On June 25, the Yongchang County Court issued the first judicial confirmation ruling on administrative mediation of intellectual property disputes. Basic facts of the case
In 2023, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Jinchuan District, Jinchang City, found in the process of market inspection that the 6 bottles of 52 degrees "Jiannanchun" liquor sold by the defendant Jinchang Company were counterfeit registered trademark goods, so it imposed administrative penalties on the company, but the company has not made any compensation to the plaintiff company for its infringement.****** The plaintiff company filed a lawsuit with the Yongchang County Court on the grounds that the defendant Jinchang company had infringed its trademark rights, requesting that the defendant Jinchang company be punished with punitive damages in accordance with the law, and that the Jinchang company should bear its economic losses and reasonable expenses totaling 100,000 yuan.
Processing
In order to improve the efficiency of dispute resolution and actively and effectively play the role of the docking mechanism for intellectual property litigation and mediation, the Yongchang County Court issued a letter of entrustment to the Jinchuan District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Jinchang City, where the defendant company is located, and entrusted the Jinchuan District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Jinchang City to conduct administrative mediation of the case. After accepting the case, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Jinchuan District, Jinchang City, patiently explained the law and reasoned, and finally facilitated the two parties to reach a mediation agreement. In order to make up for the shortcomings of administrative mediation and better protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Jinchuan District, Jinchang City, timely docked with the Yongchang County Court, and guided the parties to add a layer of "insurance" to the mediation agreement through judicial confirmation, giving the administrative mediation agreement enforceability in the legal sense.
This case is the first intellectual property case in Yongchang County Court to pass "administrative mediation + judicial confirmation", and it is also a useful attempt by the Yongchang County Court and the municipal, county and district market supervision and administration bureaus to actively practice diversified dispute resolution, give full play to the role of the docking mechanism for litigation and mediation of intellectual property disputes, and build a pattern of "great protection" of intellectual property rights.
When well-known trademark infringement disputes such as "Jiannanchun" and "Luzhou Laojiao" are brought to court, how to stop the infringement in a timely manner and allow the infringed party to obtain corresponding compensation, so as to effectively protect the rights and interests of the brand owner? How to give full play to the joint role of the government and the court to promote the source resolution and diversified resolution of intellectual property disputes? These are all issues that the Yongchang County Court has been focusing on exploring since the adjustment of jurisdiction for intellectual property cases on July 1, 2022.
In order to effectively solve the above problems and resolve intellectual property disputes fairly and efficiently in accordance with the law, the Yongchang County Court has taken the initiative to explore the establishment of a docking mechanism for litigation and mediation of intellectual property disputes, and set up the Yongchang County People's Court Intellectual Property Circuit Court in the Yongchang County Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, giving full play to the positive role of the people's courts and the People's Mediation Committee of Intellectual Property Rights in preventing and resolving intellectual property conflicts and disputes, and promoting the effective connection between administrative protection and judicial protection of intellectual property rights with the dispute resolution model of "administrative mediation + judicial confirmation". Realize the "whole chain" protection of intellectual property rights, and promote the pre-litigation resolution of intellectual property conflicts and disputes. Since the establishment of the mechanism, the Yongchang County Court and the municipal, county and district market supervision and administration bureaus have established normalized communication and liaison, continuously unblocked contact channels, strengthened work cooperation, and used the dispute resolution model of "administrative mediation + judicial confirmation" to implement the Fengqiao experience in the new era, effectively resolve conflicts and disputes before litigation and in the bud, realize the benign interaction between justice and administration, complement each other's advantages, and superimpose efficiency, strengthen the collaborative protection of intellectual property rights, and provide a strong guarantee for innovative development and optimization of the business environment.
Source: Yongchang County Court Zhao Shuzhen