On April 20, 2022, China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) issued Several Provisions on the Jurisdiction over First-Instance Trial of Civil and Administrative Cases Involving Intellectual Property ("Provisions"), which has come into effect since May 1, 2022.

It is clearly stipulates in the Provisions that the first-instance trial of civil and administrative cases involving the ownership of and infringement disputes and monopoly disputes over invention patents, utility model patents, new plant varieties, integrated circuit layout designs, technical secrets and computer software are subject to the jurisdiction of intellectual property courts, intermediate people's courts of places where people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government are situated, and intermediate people's courts determined by the SPC; the first-instance trial of civil and administrative cases involving the ownership of and infringement disputes over design patents and the identification of well-known trademarks are subject to the jurisdiction of intellectual property courts and intermediate people's courts.

See the following link for the full text (in Chinese) of the Provisions:

https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu-xiangqing-355871.html

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