China to set up national-level IPR court of appeals

A senior Chinese judge on Friday said the Supreme People's Court (SPC) is considering a national appeal court specializing in intellectual property rights (IPR).

Tao Kaiyuan, vice president of the SPC, made the remarks during a conference in Beijing.

"[We] shall make the establishment of a national-level IPR court of appeals a national strategy," Tao said, adding that the SPC will come up with a more detailed plan after consultation.

A leading group comprised of senior judges will coordinate judicial reform in IPR cases in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, she said.

Chinese courts heard 133,863 IPR cases in 2014, 19.5 percent more than the year before, according to a judicial IPR white paper.

Specialized IPR courts were established in 2014 in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai leading to a significant improvement in IPR regulation.

According to Tao, the three courts have heard more than 30,000 cases in the past two years.