Announcement of the China National Intellectual Property Administration

No. 517

In order to conscientiously implement the Party Central Committee and the State Council on the comprehensive strengthening of intellectual property protection of the decision-making arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and to effectively maintain fair and competitive market order, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of intellectual property rights holders and the public, to facilitate the parties to the case to participate in the administrative adjudication process, reduce the cost of rights protection, and enhance administrative efficiency, according to the "Patent Law of the People's Republic of China" and the relevant rules and regulations, the "Measures for Online Oral Hearing of Administrative AdjudicationRuling Cases of the CNIPA" is hereby issued, effective from the date of publication.

It is hereby announced.
China National Intellectual Property Administration
February 17, 2023

Measures for Online Oral Hearing of Administrative AdjudicationRuling Cases of the CNIPA

Article 1 In order to facilitate the parties to the case to participate in the administrative adjudication procedures, and improve administrative efficiency, the Measures are developed in combination with the relevant provisions of the CNIPA administrative adjudication and the actual practical work.

Article 2 The online oral hearing in the Measures refer to the oral hearing procedure of administrative adjudication cases carried out ompleted by the CNIPA online through the Internet during administrative adjudication procedures. The online oral hearing of a case has the same legal effect as the offline oral hearing.

Article 3 Hearing The cases is heard offline ais a principle and online ias an exception. The CNIPA takes into account themany factors such as case situation, the intentionwishes of the parties, and technical conditions to decide whether to holdconduct online oral hearings, and the following cases can be applied to online oral hearings:
(1) administrative adjudication cases of major patent infringement disputes;
(2) administrative adjudication cases of an early resolution mechanism for pharmaceutical patent disputes;
(3) administrative adjudication cases of disputes over the exclusive rights to layout designs of integrated circuits; and
(4) other administrative adjudication cases suitable for online oral hearings.

Article 4 Online oral hearings are not applicable if one of the following circumstances exists:
(1) where the parties have justified genuine and legitimate reasons for not being able to participate in the online oral hearing or do not have the technical conditions and or ability to participate in the online oral hearing, and the party submits a written application and such application is approved by the CNIPA;
(2) where the case is difficult and complicated, the evidence is extensive, and the use of online methods is not conducive to ascertaining facts and or applying the law;
(3) where the case involves national security, state secrets, or commercial secrets; and
(4) other circumstances where online oral hearings are deemed unsuitable by the CNIPA.
The parties who meet the circumstances in item (1) of the preceding paragraph participate in the offline oral hearing offline, and the other parties may continue to participate in the online oral hearing online.

Article 5 When holdingconducting an online oral hearing, the CNIPA shall notify the parties at least 5 working days before the oral hearing, and inform the parties of the specific time, procedures, rights and obligations, legal consequences, and operating methods of the online oral hearing.

Article 6 For the online oral hearings that have been notified by the CNIPA, if the petitioner a party fails to participate without justified reasons,  they requestor will be treated as withdrawing the request, ; while if and the accused party fails to participate without justified reasons, theyrequested person will be treated as absent.

Article 7 During online oral hearings, the CNIPA shall verify the identities of the parties; if necessary, it shall further verify the identities offline.

Article 8 According to the circumstances of the case, the CNIPA may organize the parties to carry out  exchange evidence online onlineevidence exchange, and carry out ompletethe procedures such as proof production and cross-examination in a synchronous or asynchronous manner. If, during the hearing, it is found during the hearing that it is necessary to verify the original documents and inspect the physical objects offline, the CNIPA may arrange the verification and inspection may be arranged offline after the online oral hearing.

Article 9 For cases where online oral hearings are applicable, the rights of the parties such as concerned to applying for recusal, to producinge evidence, to cross-examineing evidence, to makinge statements, and to debating,e shall be protected in accordance with the law.
For cases that have taken online oral hearings, if during the oral hearing it is found during the oral hearing that there are circumstances that do not apply to the online oral hearing, the CNIPA shall switch to an offline oral hearing in a timely manner. The completed workportion completed inof the online oral hearing has a legal effect.

Article 10 The CNIPA shall arrange for an online oral hearing session. The members of the Case Collegial Panel and the names of the seats, etc. shall be in a reasonable area of the video screen.
Other personnel participating in the online oral hearing shall choose a quiet, non-interfering, well-lit, with good network signal, and relatively closed place, and must not participate in places that may affect the audio and video effects of the online oral trial or damage the seriousness of the hearing. The CNIPA may require the participants to attend the online oral hearing at the designated place if necessary.

Article 11 Those participating in the online oral hearing shall abide by the discipline of oral hearings. Unless it is indeed a network failure, equipment damage, power interruption, and other force majeure reasons, a party who withdraws midway without permission will be treated in accordance with Article 6 of the Measures.

Article 12 Witnesses who participate by way of online are not allowed to observe the case. When questioning a witness, other witnesses should not be present, except in cases where witnesses need to be confronted. Where a party raises an objection to a witness's participation in an oral hearing online and submits a written application, and with the approval of the CNIPA, the witness shall be required to testify offline.
Personnel from inspection and appraisal agencies, etc. who participate in online oral hearings shall be governed by the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Article 13 For cases where online oral hearings are applicable, the CNIPA shall announce the time for online oral hearings.
For administrative adjudication cases involving personal privacy and other circumstances, if the parties apply for an undisclosed online oral hearing, the online oral hearing process may not be made public.

Article 14 In cases where online oral hearings are conducted, all parties may confirm and sign for the mediation agreement, transcripts, electronic delivery certificates, and other case materials through online or written confirmation, electronic signatures, and other means.
Electronic transcripts formed simultaneously during mediation, evidence exchange, oral hearings, etc., have the same legal effect as written transcripts after verification and confirmation by the parties.

Article 15 For online oral hearing cases, the CNIPA shall use technical means to simultaneously generate electronic archives of oral hearing transcripts along with the case. The filing, archiving, storage, utilization, etc. of electronic archives shall be carried out in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations on archives management.
Where there are paper dossiers for online oral hearings, files shall be filed, archived, and preserved in accordance with relevant laws and regulations on archives management.

Article 16 Relevant partiessubjects participating in online oral hearings shall abide by relevant laws and regulations on data security and personal information protection, and fulfill data security and personal information protection obligations. Without the consent of the CNIPA, no one may record, intercept, or disseminate audio, video, and graphic materials involved in the online oral hearing proceduress in violation of laws and regulations. No one may, except for those disclosed by the CNIPA in accordance with the law, disclose, disseminate, or use online oral hearing data in violation of laws and regulations.
In the event of the above circumstances, the CNIPA may, according to the specific circumstances, pursue the legal responsibilities of the relevant units and personnel in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations on data security and personal information protection. If a crime is suspected, it shall be transferred to the judicial authority for criminal responsibility.

Article 17 Where the local administrative department of patent affairs adopts online oral hearings in  handling administrative adjudication cases of patent infringement disputes, the Measures may be applied by reference.

Article 18 The Measures shall come into effect on the date of publication.

https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2023/2/24/art_74_182288.html