Pudong strengthens protection of intellectual property rights

The Pudong New Area will implement the strictest intellectual property rights protection measures and increase penalties for IPR infringement, the Shanghai Pudong People's Court said on Wednesday.

The court has actively firmed up the compensation system, increasing the punishment intensity for IPR damages in all aspects.

It judged 32 cases with compensations ranging from 1 million (US$153,700) to 5 million yuan, and four cases over 5 million yuan last year. Among them, in eight cases, it fully supported the accusers, in which the highest judgment amount reached 10 million yuan, said Xu Jun, chief judge of the court.

The court also severely punished offenders through criminal means, and has used pre-litigation injunctions to improve the timeliness of IPR.

Among the details of 10 typical cases released by the court, one was related to "Dyson" – an internationally well-known brand electrical producer. A total of 35 people were sent to prison and fined 10.08 million yuan in the case by the court in July 2020, because they produced and sold hair dryers with fake "Dyson" trademarks.

Increasing the punishment for IPR infringement is one of the 10 measures issued by the court to turn Pudong into a highland of judicial protection of IPR, Xu said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Pudong will also cooperate with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service to promote the new area's participation in international cooperation and competition in the field of IPR.

To achieve this, the court will defend the legal rights of social subjects, standardize market order, severely punish IPR criminal offenders, and carry out mediation in cases involving foreign affairs, Xu added.

The court will further promote online remote trials and gradually improve the entire online case handling system.