I. Introduction to Intellectual Property Arbitration

(I) Introduction to the arbitration system

Arbitration is a dispute resolution mechanism parallel to litigation. It refers to a method of resolving a civil and commercial dispute by submitting the dispute to an arbitration institution for award, according to an arbitration agreement voluntarily reached by the parties. In recent years, due to advantages such as flexibility, efficiency and specialization, arbitration is being favored by more and more social people.

(II) Arbitrability of disputes over intellectual property

For contractual disputes over intellectual property, the parties may incorporate an arbitration clause into the contract and agree to resolve the contract-related disputes through arbitration. In the absence of a prior arbitration clause, the Arbitration Law allows the parties to, after an IP infringement dispute has arisen, reach an arbitration agreement through negotiation, and submit the dispute to an institution for arbitration.

II. Introduction to Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property

(I) Introduction to Guangzhou Arbitration Commission

Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property was formally established on August 29, 1995 in accordance with the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China. As the only civil and commercial arbitration institute in Guangzhou region, it has always adhered to the principle of independent and efficient arbitration, and resolved the civil and commercial contractual disputes and other disputes over rights and interests in or to properties among equal entities, including natural person, legal person, and other organizations in a justified and timely manner.

(II) Background of establishment

In order to meet the strategic requirements for strengthening intellectual property protection and give full play to the role of intellectual property arbitration in providing guarantee for economic development, China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property, as a specialized arbitration court under China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Commission, was officially established on July 11, 2011, and is the first specialized intellectual property arbitration court in South China.

(III) Current status of development

China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property now has a team of more than 200 intellectual property arbitrators, as well as an expert pool and expert advisory committee composed of more than 70 people, bringing together well-known experts, scholars, lawyers, and other professionals from intellectual property competent authorities, industry associations, law practice and other fields.

China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property has accumulated extensive experience in handling intellectual property cases, involving matters such as R&D and transfer of computer software, animation, mechanical automation and other technical products, trademark and patent agency, chain operation in clothing, department store, catering, and other industries.

(IV) Prospects

China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property is committed to building a specialized intellectual property arbitration platform to provide a smooth and efficient way for the parties to resolve intellectual property disputes. In the future, China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property will expand into the area of foreign-related intellectual property arbitration and establish an international roster of professional arbitrators. Moreover, it will continue to give full play to the advantages of online arbitration, and based on the “online + offline” mode, explore the improvement and development of online intellectual property arbitration, and improve the efficiency and quality of intellectual property dispute resolution.

III. Reasons for Choosing Intellectual Property Arbitration

(I) Confidentiality

Intellectual property arbitration cases are heard in camera, which not only effectively protects the trade secrets of the parties, but also avoids the premature disclosure of litigation-related information, and reduces the impact of intellectual property disputes on the goodwill and brand image of enterprises.

(II) Autonomy

Arbitration is centered on the autonomy of will of the parties, who are free to select the arbitrators, the place of arbitration, the language of arbitration and the applicable law. Compared with the strict litigation procedures of courts, the arbitration procedures are more flexible, and the parties may reach an agreement on procedural matters of arbitration and agree on arbitration procedures that meet their needs.

(III) Efficiency

The arbitral award is final and binding, and takes legal effect on the date of issuance. After the award is rendered, the parties may not apply for arbitration or bring a lawsuit to any people’s court with respect to the same dispute. Compared with litigation, which consists of “two instances + final appeal”, arbitration may save a lot of time and money, which is in line with the feature of pursuing efficiency in handling intellectual property disputes.

(4) Specialization

The arbitration is conducted by way of “expert adjudication”, and the arbitrators selected are legal and trade experts with profound legal expertise and extensive industry experience. Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property selects arbitrators with technical background and practical experience in intellectual property to form a roster of specialized intellectual property arbitrators, in order to ensure the quality of dispute resolution and the fairness and reasonableness of arbitration results.

(V) Cross-regionality

A major feature of IP disputes is cross-regionality. If litigation is chosen to resolve disputes, the right holder might need to travel across the country or even the world to participate in litigation. In contrast, the parties may freely choose the place of arbitration through negotiation, thereby achieving cross-regional jurisdiction over dispute.

(VI) Convenience

Guangzhou Arbitration Commission has extensive practical experience in online arbitration, and via its online arbitration cloud platform, the parties may complete all or the main steps of arbitration procedures, including online case filing, online service of process, online hearing, etc., making it convenient for the parties and the arbitrators from different places or even different countries to participate in arbitration.

(VII) Enforceability

An effective arbitral award is enforceable, and it is allowed to petition to a court for enforcement of a domestic arbitral award. Moreover, China is a party to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (referred to as the “New York Convention”), and arbitral awards made by Chinese institutions may be recognized and enforced by foreign courts in accordance with the provisions of the New York Convention.

IV. Intellectual Property Arbitration Process

Request for arbitration/statement of claim (offline or online)

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Case filing (accepted within 5 days after the claimant prepays the arbitration fee)

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Tribunal formation (the parties select or entrust the Chairman of the Commission to appoint arbitrator(s), to form a sole-arbitrator tribunal for an amount in dispute less than RMB 500,000, and multiple-arbitrator tribunal for an amount in dispute more than RMB 500,000)

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Hearing (oral or written)

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Case closure (award/mediation)

V. Model clauses

The model clause of China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Commission is as follows:

“Any dispute arising from or in connection with this contract shall be submitted to China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Commission for arbitration in accordance with the Commission’s arbitration rules, and the arbitral award shall be final and binding upon both the parties.”

Contact Address:

China’s Guangzhou Arbitration Commission

Address: F/12-14, Building C, and F/6 & 8, Building A, Jiangwan Hotel, 298 Yanjiang Zhong Rd., Yuexiu District, Guangzhou; F/14 & 17, Jiangwan Business Center, 298 Yanjiang Zhong Rd., Yuexiu District, Guangzhou

Tel.: (020) 83287919, 83288547

Fax: 83287761

Guangzhou Arbitration Court of Intellectual Property

Address: F/16, Building A4, Guangzhou Headquarter Economy Zone, 241 Kexue Avenue, Huangpu District, Guangzhou

Tel.: (020) 32382015

Fax: (020) 82514171

URLs:

Arbitration Cloud Platform of Guangzhou Arbitration Commission: arb.gzac.org

Website of Guangzhou Arbitration Commission: www.gzac.org

China Commercial Arbitration Website: www.ccarb.org