Beijing High Court Issues Guidelines For Determining Patent Infringement

On September 4, 2013, the Beijing High People's Court issued new Guidelines for Determining Patent Infringement (the "Guidelines"). Spanning 133 articles, the Guidelines provide comprehensive and practical guidance on such topics as claim construction, infringement, and defenses.

The Beijing High People's Court promulgated Opinions on Several Issues Related to the Determination of Patent Infringement (the "Opinions") in 2001. People's courts in Beijing currently handle about 300 patent-related civil disputes every year. With the ever-increasing number of patent disputes, and the many years of experience gained by the court, the Court issued the new Guidelines, effectively replacing the Opinions, to reflect precedents and best practices accumulated by the Beijing courts.