On October 27, 2023, the Supreme People's Court ("SPC") issued a decision on amending the Provisions on Several Issues Related to the IP Tribunal of SPC ("IP Tribunal"), which came into effect on 1 November 2023. It is the first public amendment of the jurisdiction rules since establishing the IP Tribunal on January 1, 2019.

The main changes are as follows. Firstly, and most notably, the scope of cases heard by the IP Tribunal has changed. According to the decision and a further notice issued by the SPC on the same day, the IP Tribunal has limited its jurisdiction criteria for civil and administrative appellate cases on the ownership and infringement of patents of utility models, technical secrets and computer software to those deemed "significant and complicated”, i.e., cases where appeals are filed against judgments of local high people's courts in first instances. This being said, "ordinary" cases of this kind will be returned to the jurisdiction of local high people's courts. Secondly, this amendment adds a provision for the IP Tribunal to handle the applications for reconsidering ruling on action preservation ordered in the first instance of civil and administrative cases.

In addition, a new provision has been added, stipulating that the IP Tribunal may request the party concerned to disclose the facts of the related cases involving the ownership, infringement and the granting and confirmation of the IP rights. If the party concerned refuses to make truthful disclosure, such refusal may serve as a factor for determining whether it follows the principles of honesty and credibility and whether its act constitutes an abuse of rights.

Overall, the SPC's decision signals China's continuous efforts to promote and deepen the reform of the national-level appeal mechanism for IP cases. In 2022, through self-assessment and third-party evaluation, the IP Tribunal was unanimously recognized as having achieved the expected goals set at the court's establishment. The adjustment will be conducive to the IP Tribunal focusing on the trial of significant and complicated cases with certain influence and optimizing the court functions. For relevant IP rights holders, dealing with the changes brought about by the new regulations requires attention to the choice of the first-instance court with jurisdiction and the future updates of the jurisdiction of China's IP litigation cases.