Recently, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court conducted judicial confirmation 0n two administrative mediation agreements for patent disputes, which is the first case in Beijing where an administrative mediation agreement was reached for judicial confirmation of a patent infringement dispute.

A technology company in Beijing and a technology company in Jiangsu requested an administrative adjudication from the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office (hereinafter referred to as the Intellectual Property Office) for an infringement dispute over a utility model patent for smart cleaning equipment. After mediation by the Intellectual Property Office, both parties reached a mediation agreement and signed the “Patent Agreement on Administrative Mediation of Infringement Disputes”. Afterward, both parties applied for judicial confirmation of the above-mentioned administrative mediation agreement.

After accepting the case in accordance with the law, after review, it was believed that the mediation agreement reached by both applicants complied with the statutory conditions for judicial confirmation of the mediation agreement, and it was ruled as follows in accordance with Article 195 of the Civil Procedure Law: 1. The mediation agreement between the applicants presided over by the Intellectual Property Office is valid. 2. The applicants should consciously fulfill the obligations in accordance with the mediation agreement; if one applicant refuses to perform or fails to perform all of the obligations, the other applicant may apply to the court for enforcement.

The above two cases finally resolved the disputes between the parties by the court’s judicial confirmation of the administrative mediation agreement, which not only reflected the effective connection between administrative and judicial work, but also was an important measure for us to further promote the diversion of complicated and simple cases and optimize the allocation of judicial resources. It is of great importance to improve our diversified mediation mechanisms for intellectual property rights disputes and enhance the quality and effectiveness of trials.

From Beijing Intellectual Property

November 9th, 2021