On 26 Apr. 2023, China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) released the “Guidelines on Handling Intellectual Property Cases for People’s Procuratorates” (hereinafter the “Guidelines”, 人民檢察院辦理知識產權案件工作指引).
The Guidelines is divided into three main sections, including (1) the handling of criminal intellectual property cases; (2) the handling of civil and administrative intellectual property litigation supervision cases; and (3) the handling of intellectual property public interest litigation cases.
The Guidelines also stipulates that the procuratorate may hold a hearing when handling an intellectual property case that involves relatively considerable disputes in fact-finding, application of law, case handling, or any other aspect, or that has significant social impact. As needed by the case, a person with expertise or a procuratorial technician may be invited to participate in the hearing. The hearing of an intellectual property case involving any trade secret may be held in private at the request of a party.
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Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
