Announcement of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on Promulgation of the Measures for Online Oral Hearing of Administrative Adjudication Cases of the State Intellectual Property Office (No. 517) |-Intellectual Property-Shenzhen deep trust patent Agency Co., LTD

Announcement of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on Promulgation of the Measures for Online Oral Hearing of Administrative Adjudication Cases of the State Intellectual Property Office (No. 517) |

Release Time：

2023-12-11

State Intellectual Property Office announcement

Number 517

In order to earnestly implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and The State Council on comprehensively strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights, effectively maintain the market order of fair competition, protect the legitimate rights and interests of intellectual property rights holders and the public, facilitate the parties to cases to participate in administrative adjudication procedures, reduce the cost of safeguarding rights, and improve administrative efficiency,On the basis of Patent law of China The Measures for Online Oral Trial of Administrative Adjudication Cases of the State Intellectual Property Office are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of the date of promulgation.

It is hereby announced.

State Intellectual Property Office

February 17, 2023

State Intellectual Property Office administrative adjudication cases online oral trial method

Article one In order to facilitate the parties to the case to participate in the administrative adjudication procedure and improve administrative efficiency, these Measures are formulated in light of the relevant provisions and actual work of the State Intellectual Property Office on administrative adjudication.

Article 2 The online oral hearing referred to in these measures refers to the State Intellectual Property Office completing the oral hearing procedure of administrative ruling cases through the Internet online in administrative rulings. The online oral trial of a case has the same legal effect as the offline oral trial.

Article 3 The trial of cases is based on the principle of offline trial, and online trial is an exception. The State Intellectual Property Office takes into account the circumstances of the case, the wishes of the parties and technical conditions and other factors to decide whether to conduct an online oral trial. The following cases may be applied to an online oral trial:

(1) Administrative rulings on major patent infringement disputes;

(2) drug patent dispute early settlement mechanism administrative rulings;

(3) Administrative rulings on disputes over the exclusive right of layout design of integrated circuits;

(4) Other administrative adjudication cases that are suitable for oral trial online.

Article 4 Online oral hearing is not applicable under any of the following circumstances:

(1) the parties have legitimate reasons to be unable to participate in the online oral hearing or do not have the technical conditions and capabilities to participate in the online oral hearing, and submit a written application for approval by the State Intellectual Property Office;

(2) The case is difficult and complex, the evidence is numerous, and the online method is not conducive to the identification of facts and the application of law;

(3) The case involves state security, state secrets or commercial secrets;

(4) The State Intellectual Property Office considers that there are other circumstances that are not suitable for online oral hearing.

Where a party meeting the circumstances of item (1) of the preceding paragraph participates in the offline oral hearing, other parties may continue to participate in the online oral hearing.

Article 5 When the State Intellectual Property Office conducts online oral hearings, it shall inform the parties at least 5 working days before the oral hearings, and inform the parties of the specific time, procedures, rights and obligations, legal consequences and operational methods of the online oral hearings.

Article 6 Where the State Intellectual Property Office has notified the online oral hearing and the parties do not participate without justifiable reasons, the applicant shall be treated as withdrawing the request and the person requested shall be treated as absent.

Article 7 The State Intellectual Property Office shall verify the identity of the parties when conducting oral hearings online; If necessary, the identity should be further verified offline.

Article 8 According to the circumstances of the case, the State Intellectual Property Office may organize the parties to carry out online evidence exchange and complete procedures such as evidence presentation and cross-examination through synchronous or non-synchronous means. If it is found that the original and physical items need to be checked offline during the trial, the verification and inspection can be arranged offline after the oral trial on the line.

Article 9 In cases where online oral hearing is applicable, the rights of the parties to apply for withdrawal, to present evidence, to cross-examine evidence, to make statements, to debate, etc. shall be protected in accordance with the law.

In cases that have taken online oral trial, where it is found in the course of oral trial that online oral trial is not applicable, the State Intellectual Property Office shall promptly switch to offline oral trial. The portion of the completed online oral hearing has legal effect.

Article 10 The State Intellectual Property Office shall arrange an online oral hearing court. Members of the case panel and the name of the seat should be in the reasonable area of the video screen.

Other participants in the online oral hearing shall choose a quiet, non-interference, appropriate light, good network signal, relatively closed place, may not affect the online oral hearing audio and video effect or harm the seriousness of the hearing place. When necessary, the State Intellectual Property Office may require participants to attend an online oral hearing at a designated place.

Article 11 Participants in the online oral hearing shall abide by the oral hearing discipline. In addition to the network failure, equipment damage, power interruption and other force majeure causes, the party without permission to withdraw, in accordance with article 6 of these measures.

Article 12 Witnesses who participate online are not allowed to sit in on the trial. No other witnesses should be present when a witness is questioned, except in cases where a witness is required to confront him. If a party objects to the witness's online participation in the oral hearing and submits a written application, and the State Intellectual Property Office agrees, the witness shall be required to testify offline.

Personnel of inspection and appraisal institutions who participate in online oral hearings shall refer to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Article 13 For cases where online oral hearing is applicable, the State Intellectual Property Office shall announce the time of online oral hearing.

For administrative ruling cases involving personal privacy and other circumstances, where the parties apply for an online oral hearing not to be made public, the online oral hearing process may not be made public.

Article 14 In the case of online oral hearing, the parties may confirm and sign the mediation agreement, record, electronic service certificate and other case materials through online or written confirmation, electronic signature and other means.

The electronic record formed in the process of mediation, evidence exchange, oral hearing, etc. shall have the same legal effect as the written record after verification and confirmation by the parties.

Article 15 In cases where oral trial is conducted online, the State Intellectual Property Office shall use technical means to generate electronic files of oral trial transcripts simultaneously with the case. The filing, archiving, storage and utilization of electronic archives shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations on archives management.

Where there are paper file materials in cases of online oral hearing, they shall be filed, archived and preserved in accordance with relevant laws and regulations on archives management.

Article 16 The relevant subjects participating in the online oral hearing shall comply with the relevant laws and regulations on data security and personal information protection, and fulfill the obligations of data security and personal information protection. Without the consent of the State Intellectual Property Office, no one may illegally record, intercept or disseminate audio, video or graphic materials related to the online oral hearing process. No one shall disclose, disseminate or use the data information of online oral hearings in violation of laws and regulations, except for those disclosed by the State Intellectual Property Office in accordance with law.

In the case of the above circumstances, the State Intellectual Property Office may, according to the specific circumstances, investigate the relevant units and personnel for legal responsibility in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations on data security and personal information protection, and transfer the suspected crime to the judicial organs for criminal responsibility.

Article 17 Where local administrative departments for patent affairs handle cases of patent infringement disputes through online oral trial, these Measures may be applied with reference.

Article 18 These Measures shall come into force on the date of promulgation.

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