January 5, 2015

The Shanghai No.3 Intermediate People’s Court (hereinafter the “Shanghai No.3 Intermediate Court”) and the Shanghai Intellectual Property Rights Court (hereinafter the “Shanghai IPR Court”) were recently established. The joint office houses the first cross-administrative divisional court in China and one of China’s first IPR courts.

The Shanghai No.3 Intermediate Court is based on the already-existing Shanghai Railway Transport Intermediate Court, and the Shanghai IPR Court was established for the purpose of pursuing joint efforts with the Shanghai No.3 Intermediate Court. This arrangement is in close accord with the general wishes of the Central Government as well as the norms of Shanghai judicial practice.

Based on the decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and the guidance opinions of the Central Political and Judiciary Commission, the Shanghai Higher People’s Court has researched and formulated interim rules concerning jurisdiction over cases involving cross-administrative division elements. From January 1st, 2015, the Shanghai No.3 Intermediate Court will have jurisdiction over the following cases: (i) first-instance administrative cases in which the Municipal Government of Shanghai is a defendant and administrative appeals in which municipal-level administrative authorities sue as appellants or are sued as appellees (exclusive of IP rights-related administrative cases); (ii) cases in which public prosecutions are pursued by the Shanghai No.3 People’s Procuratorate; and (iii) other cases designated by upper-level courts as well as the criminal and civil cases that were originally accepted by the Shanghai Railway Transport Intermediate Court. The Shanghai IPR Court will hear civil and administrative cases involving IP rights.