NANNING, April 26 (Xinhua) — On April 25, the High People's Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region held a press conference to report on the status of judicial protection of intellectual property rights in Guangxi courts in 2023 and to announce the top ten IP adjudication cases in Guangxi in 2023.

Photo shows the press conference site. Photo courtesy of the High People's Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Liang Bingyang, a full-time member of the Adjudication Committee of the High People's Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that over the past year, Guangxi courts accepted a total of 7,095 intellectual property cases of various types and concluded 6,175. Among them, cases involving copyright ownership and infringement disputes accounted for the largest total, with causes of action mostly being disputes over infringement of the right to screen works and infringement of the right to disseminate works through information networks, and the subject matter of rights mainly concentrated in audiovisual works and photographic works. The unfair competition dispute case of Guilin Lingmou Software Co., Ltd. v. Xiaomou Communications Technology Co., Ltd. and Beijing Xiaomou Mobile Software Co., Ltd. was selected as one of China's 50 typical intellectual property cases in 2023.

The report noted that, centering on building an agricultural powerhouse and promoting the transformation and application of agricultural intellectual property, courts across Guangxi have lawfully tried trademark infringement cases involving local specialty agricultural products such as "Bama Mineral Water," "Wuzhou Liubao Tea," "Fuchuan Navel Orange," and "Pubei Tangerine Peel," continuously strengthening judicial protection of geographical indications for agricultural products and helping "Gui-brand" products grow into "time-honored brands." Centering on optimizing the business environment, they have adhered to equal protection of all types of market entities and lawfully handled a number of unfair competition cases involving counterfeiting and confusion, false advertising, and disparagement of business reputation, empowering and enhancing enterprise innovation and development. Centering on smoothing the domestic and international dual circulation, they have strengthened foreign-related intellectual property exchanges and cooperation.

According to the introduction, guided by the modernization of adjudication concepts, Guangxi courts have actively advanced the diversion of complex and simple cases, effectively shortened the litigation cycle of cases, and ensured efficient trial of cases. In 2023, the trial period for various first-instance intellectual property cases in Guangxi was 74.6 days, 24 days shorter than the same period last year. The rate of accepting judgments and withdrawing suits at first instance reached 87.62%, up 12.34% year on year, while second-instance civil cases decreased by 39.13% over the same period.

At the same time, Guangxi courts have continued to deepen reform of the "three-in-one" trial mechanism, comprehensively reviewed jurisdiction over intellectual property cases within Guangxi, and consolidated the institutional foundation for deepening the reform of the "three-in-one" intellectual property trial mechanism. At present, the Liangqing District Court of Nanning City, the Tianyang District Court of Baise City, and the Yizhou District Court of Hechi City have achieved centralized trial of intellectual property civil, administrative, and criminal cases within their respective cities. Following the rules of intellectual property adjudication, they have improved the mechanism for technical investigators to participate in litigation activities in intellectual property cases, implemented the infringement compensation mechanism, and strived to enhance judicial effectiveness.