On October 14, the Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court (Shanghai Intellectual Property Court and Shanghai Railway Transportation Intermediate Court) held a press conference to release the Implementation Opinions on Strengthening Intellectual Property Adjudication in the New Era to Serve and Support Shanghai's Further Development of International Center for Science and Technology Innovation (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Opinions"), together with a selection of representative cases. This move aimed to thoroughly implement relevant requirements for the central and municipal Party committees, fully leverage the role of intellectual property adjudication in encouraging, safeguarding, and guiding technological innovation, and serve and support Shanghai's continued efforts to deepen the development of the International Center for Science & Technology Innovation (ICSTI).

Attendees at the press conference included Xi Jianlin, Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and President of the Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court (Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, Shanghai Railway Transportation Intermediate Court); Qian Guangwen, Chief Judge of the Intellectual Property Comprehensive Trial Second Division; Ling Song, President of the Intellectual Property Comprehensive Trial First Division; and Cao Fenfang, Deputy Chief Judge of the Criminal Division. The press conference was chaired by Wu Yingzhe, Chief Judge and Spokesperson of the Appeals Review and Judicial Supervision Tribunal (Research Office and Adjudication Management Office).

Xi Jianlin noted that, General Secretary Xi Jinping provided strategic guidance for advancing the development of Shanghai's ICSTI during a visit to Shanghai in April; at its seventh plenary session in July, the 12th Municipal Committee set out practical pathways for deepening the development of the ICSTI. To implement these guiding principles and give full play to the core role of intellectual property adjudication in "encouraging innovation and safeguarding development", the Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court (Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, Shanghai Railway Transportation Intermediate Court) formulated the Implementation Opinions after extensive research and deliberation. Additionally, the Court selected a series of representative cases, marking the service and support for Shanghai's deepened development of the ICSTI as a major mission of IP adjudication.

The "Implementation Opinions", with the focus on "protecting achievements, safeguarding entities, and optimizing the ecosystem", set out three major areas and nine key tasks:

I. Strengthen judicial protection of scientific and technological innovation achievements to facilitate breakthroughs in key fields

1£®Establish rules for emerging fields: Handle, according to laws, disputes involving new issues, such as data rights, AI data training, and infringement arising from outputs generated by large models, promptly clarify judicial rules, and guide the sound development of emerging industries.

2£®Provide strong protection for core technologies: Strictly crack down on crimes of intellectual property (IP) infringement, effectively exerting the punitive and deterrent functions of criminal penalties. For pioneering inventions and original innovations with high levels of creativity and considerable impact on technological advancement, provide broad and strong protection to deliver solid legal guarantees for breakthroughs in integrated circuits, innovative pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and the iterative upgrading of AI.

3£®Demonstrate the deterrent effect of punitive damages: Refine rules on awarding punitive damages in IP cases, increase their application, and ensure that the system fulfills its role in punishing infringers, providing effective relief to right-holders, and stimulating innovation.

II. Strengthen judicial protection for all types of scientific and technological innovators and accelerate the commercialization of R&D achievements

1£®Ensure equal and comprehensive protection for all types of entities: Properly handle disputes involving state-owned enterprises (SOEs), private enterprises, and foreign-invested R&D centers; support SOEs in their role as sources of original innovation; enhance private enterprises' capability to safeguard their rights overseas; and help foreign-invested R&D centers upgrade their capacities and boost Shanghai's attractiveness to global innovation resources.

2£®Clarify rights and obligations of technology transfer: Clearly define ownership and benefit-sharing for employee inventions, safeguard researchers' entitlement to rewards and remuneration, stimulate their creativity, and accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productivity.

3£®Remove barriers to talent mobility: Balance the protection of trade secrets with employees' freedom to choose jobs, and lawfully resolve disputes arising from the departure of technical personnel, providing strong support for the orderly flow of S&T talent and the emergence of innovative enterprises.

III. Safeguard fair competition to build a world-class innovation ecosystem per laws

1£®Place equal emphasis on the antitrust enforcement and the fight against unfair competition: Accurately distinguish between the lawful exercise of IP rights and their abuse to eliminate or restrict competition, ensure fair access to innovation resources for all types of enterprises, promote rational allocation and efficient utilization of such resources, curb "rat race" competition, and contribute to the development of a unified national market.

2£®Crack down on acts that impede technological innovation according to laws: Curb false IP rights litigation, malicious lawsuits, and other abuses of procedural rights that hinder innovation, prevent litigation from being used to disrupt competitors' legitimate development or obtain improper benefits, and foster a sound rule-of-law environment for entrepreneurship and innovation.

3£®Strengthen coordinated protection: Improve the linkage among civil, administrative, and criminal proceedings; work in concert with the Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, and other relevant authorities and industry associations; and build strong synergies to enhance the overall effectiveness of IP protection.

Xi Jianlin pointed out that to ensure effective implementation of the Implementation Opinions, the Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court (Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, Shanghai Railway Transportation Intermediate Court) is introducing three supporting measures: improving IP adjudication institutions and mechanisms, building a high-caliber specialized judiciary team, and empowering adjudication with digital technologies, so as to provide high-quality judicial services for great sci-tech innovation.

At the press conference, Qian Guangwen released and interpreted eight representative cases in the field of scientific and technological innovation. The cases cover key and emerging technologies such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, and data rights. They include a trade-secret infringement case that clarifies the criteria for "improvement-based use" and "passive use" of trade secrets and adopts exit-ban measures to prevent the outflow of core integrated-circuit (IC) technology; a pharmaceutical technology contract dispute involving more than CNY 100 million; an unfair-competition case concerning the resale of split membership rights and data scraping; and the nation's first criminal case involving the manufacture and sale of pirated "dongles" used for medical software. These cases directly respond to pressing issues in the protection of technological innovation and offer clear guidance for the adjudication of similar cases in the future.

At the press conference, Xi Jianlin, Ling Song, and Cao Fenfang answered questions from journalists. The conference was also attended by deputies to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, members of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), experts, scholars, representatives of hi-tech enterprises, and media journalists.

Comments by Deputies, Committee Members, and Experts

Fan Zheng, Deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, and Deputy General Manager of Shanghai Patent & Trademark Law Office, LLC: The Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court (Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, Shanghai Railway Transportation Intermediate Court), embracing its mission in the new era, has made supporting the development of Shanghai as an international science and technology innovation center the core mission of IP adjudication. By focusing on the protection of emerging technologies, incentives for technology transfer, and the optimization of the innovation ecosystem, the Court has injected strong rule-of-law momentum into the city's scientific and technological development. From cutting-edge explorations involving AI and data rights to precise protection of original achievements, employee inventions, and trade secrets, and further to the application of powerful tools such as punitive damages and measures to curb malicious litigation, each step reflects the judiciary's sense of responsibility and foresight in keeping pace with industrial development. The release of the eight representative cases not only summarizes judicial experience but also serves as a model, offering clear guidance for enterprises and researchers.

Chen Lei, Member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC, Executive Director of the Data-Driven Center at Zhiji Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. (IM Motors): The Implementation Opinions center on three key dimensions¡ªjudicial protection of scientific and technological achievements, safeguarding the rights and interests of all innovation entities, and maintaining fair competition in accordance with the law¡ªputting forward a series of practical and actionable measures that provide strong institutional support for tackling key technological challenges, promoting the efficient transformation of R&D results, and fostering a world-class innovation ecosystem. As new energy vehicles, large models, and AI advance rapidly, breakthroughs in emerging and core technologies will continue to generate new judicial issues and practical needs. We look forward to the courts taking the release of the Implementation Opinions as a new starting point to further enhance the effectiveness of IP protection and, through high-quality IP adjudication, better serve and support Shanghai's efforts to deepen the development of ICSTI.

Xu Chunming, Director of the IP Discipline Committee of Tongji University, Professor at the Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property: In Shanghai's efforts to deepen its development of ICSTI, the judicial protection of IP has always been a core issue. The Implementation Opinions focus on emerging technology fields, directly address cutting-edge challenges such as AI and data rights, and tackle the problem of legal lag by formulating dynamic rules, thereby providing an institutional safeguard for Shanghai to secure a leading position in frontier technologies. The document strengthens the balancing of interests by clearly distinguishing the technology-origination responsibilities of SOEs from the overseas risk-management needs of private enterprises, and especially by refining rules on the ownership and benefit-sharing of employee inventions for the purpose of stimulating researchers' creativity and accelerating the commercialization of innovations. It also optimizes the innovation ecosystem by curbing false litigation, malicious lawsuits, and other abuses of procedural rights that hinder innovation, demonstrating a firm stance on maintaining fair competition, removing the disruptions caused by "rat race" competition, and creating a new sound environment for sci-tech enterprises.

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