China's Move Toward More Enforcement of IP

As China continues to work toward a services/innovation based economy, China has made several efforts to improve intellectual property enforcement.  Professor V.K. Unni of the Indian Institute of Management of Calcutta has authored a short, concise and interesting paper concerning intellectual property courts and enforcement in China, titled, Specialized Intellectual Property Enforcement in China: Implications for Indian Companies” in LiveLaw.in.  Professor V.K. Unni notes that, in addition to the IP specialized courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, China is creating “four new specialized IP Tribunals in Nanjing, Suzhou, Chengdu and Wuhan.”  He states that these tribunals will have jurisdiction that is regional and will extend beyond city limits.  Notably, he speculates that China may create a “national” appeals court similar to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  Professor V.K. Unni also states that: “It has been reported that during 2015 in the 63 IP disputes filed with the Beijing IP Court where foreigners were complainants, all the cases were won by foreigners.”  Notably, this progress is followed by the recent decisions concerning New Balance and Michael Jordan.

As reported by Bloomberg, China's Ministry of Commerce responded to Trump's action recently by stating that the U.S. should "cherish" its relationship with China and not harm the "business interests" of both countries' companies.   

SEP Injunctions and the Balance of IPRs and Competition in India

Professor V.K. Unni of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta has authored a short and concise opinion paper titled, Promoting Innovation: Moving Towards a Better Intellectual Property Regime, in the Financial Express.  His paper discusses the importance of finding the right balance between patent rights and competition law with respect to standard essential patents for India.  Interestingly, he observes that in India injunctive relief has been granted relatively frequently with respect to standard essential patents held by Ericsson against Indian companies, particularly when compared to pharmaceuticals.  He notes that, “the Delhi High Court [recently] held that laws dealing with protection of IPR and competition do not have any irreconcilable repugnancy or conflict, and upheld the jurisdiction of the [Competition Commission of India] to entertain complaints dealing with abuse of dominance against the patent holder.”  The article is available, here.