From the perspective of China, IP attracts considerable attention ranging from top-level design, rules revision, organizational restructuring, judicial exploration to academic controversy.

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of CPC highlighted IP utilization and protection issues. The proposal for exploring and establishing a specialized IP court has been officially written into the central decision. Guidelines for Determining Patent Infringement was published by the Beijing Higher People’s Court. The IP tribunal of Beijing Third Intermediate People’s Court took the first step. Haidian Court launched a pilot “3 in 1” program for the trial of IP cases. Several disputes lasting for years came to an end, and the new ones arose. Some large-scale, annual professional forums about new trends have become big events in the IP field. Moreover, the third revision of China’s Trademark Law is coming into force on May 1st 2014. The revisions of Patent Law and Copyright Law are also on their way.

At the international level, the transnational lawsuits started by the industry giants continued to emerge uninterruptedly. The U.S. has included IP in its GDP statistics. The agreement for the Unified Patent Court in Europe has been officially signed by the relevant EU members. The Russian government promulgated an Anti-piracy Law.

Knowing the past helps one better plan for the future. China IP will continue to report comprehensively, authentically and objectively the major events in the IP field.