Recently, the Department of Patent Administration under the State Intellectual Property Office ("SIPO") has drafted and issued the Guidelines for Responses to Administrative Litigations against Patent Law Enforcement (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public consultation by November 28, 2017.
According to the Draft for Comment, there are two types of administrative litigations filed against patent law enforcement, namely the administrative litigations against the handling of disputes over patent infringements and those against the crackdown upon the act of passing off the patent. The Draft for Comment notes that although procedural practices in respect of investigations to collect evidence, registration of preserved evidence, and suspension, are likely to have impacts on the rights and interests of the parties concerned, it is inappropriate to subject such practices to administration proceedings. Additionally, the Draft for Comment expressly states that principal persons-in-charge or persons responsible for particular matters shall appear in court as much as possible; for cases that are in connection with major public benefits, arouse great concern among the general public or result in potential mass disturbance and administrative litigations in which heads of administrative organs are advised by people's courts in writing to appear in court, the principal persons-in-charge or persons responsible for particular matters shall respond to lawsuits in court.