You are here: Home > Lifestyle > Beijingers

Adjust font size:

Jiang Ying: China IPR protection leader

Jiang Ying, an IP division judge at a Beijing court, has impressed many international companies with her fair and impartial rulings.

Born in 1968, Jiang Ying is Vice President of the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court. Over the past 20 years, her rulings have impressed many international companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Epson and Siemens. So far, she has dealt with 1,400 cases of intellectual property rights.

In July 2012, Jiang Ying was named one of the 50 most influential people in the global intellectual property community by Intellectual Property Management magazine in Europe. She has also been named a National Outstanding Judge and a Talent of Beijing’s Political and Legal System.

In December 2001, China joined the WTO. Thereafter, China revised its Patent Law and Trademark Law. The Supreme Court stated that cases against the State Patent Reexamination Board and Trademark Review and Adjudication Committee should be heard by the Beijing First Intermediate Court. To take on the challenge, a specialized bench to hear administrative patent cases was formed in March in 2004, and Jiang Ying was chosen to be the presiding judge.

At that time, the Beijing First Intermediate Court had a backlog of cases. A large number of cases were closed by the end of June, and the bench cleaned up the backlog by the end of that year, shortening the average legal cycle for intellectual property cases by 31%.

“A patent may affect the development of an industry, and a trademark can determine a company’s survival,” Jiang Ying said, explaining the importance of hearing IP cases in a timely fashion.

In autumn 2006, Germany’s Neoplan Bus Company brought a suit against three Chinese bus companies, saying their designs constituted patent infringement and claiming damages of 40 million yuan. It was China’s first case of bus patent infringement and the a major IP case after China’s accession to the WTO. The question of whether China could abide by WTO rules remained uncertain.

After receiving the case, Jiang Ying studied the bus design and analyzed similar cases both in China and abroad. According to the procedures stipulated by the court, the judge is allowed to reach a conclusion on the basis of photographs alone. However, Jiang Ying organized both parties to compare the buses so as not to miss a single detail. Finally, the German company won the lawsuit and received over 20 million yuan. This case established China’s international IPR protection image.

In the spring of 2009, Microsoft brought a suit against the State Patent Reexamination Board, claiming it was wrong for the latter to reject its offer to invalidate the patent of WINZM.IME. Jiang Ying made an in-depth investigation and overcame a series of difficult problems. She confirmed the legitimacy of WINZM.IME’s patent from a professional and judicial point of view. Though Microsoft lost the final judgment, the company was also convinced by Jiang’s ruling.

“Your explanation about my patent is more penetrating than mine. Facing a large foreign company like Microsoft, I am too small. However, the laws of our country are strong and inviolable. They are our strong backing,” said Zheng Long, owner of the WINZM.IME patent.

Over the years, Jiang has successfully handled cases concerning Ferrari, Triatop, Apple, Porsche, Epson, Philips, Viagra, Cartier, and Siemens. As a judge, Jiang has won unanimous recognition in China and abroad for her excellent work.

Moreover, Jiang Ying has also solved important domestic cases. In 2009, the National Stadium sued Panda Fireworks Group, which produced a firework called “Blooming Bird’s Nest.” The defendant copied the architectural plans to use in the fireworks, a grey area in legislative and judicial practice. Some experts believed that the Blooming Bird’s Nest was just an industrial product, not a product in the sense of copyright law. Thus, they believed that the firework group was innocent of plagiarism or copying. However, Jiang didn’t give up. “Without the rights holder’s permission, improper use of the aesthetic value of an architectural work constitutes copyright infringement,” Jiang decided after a long period of research. Finally, she affirmed that the fireworks company was in violation of copyright. The decision won high praise in terms of its understanding of both theory and practice. Both sides in the suit were convinced of the reason of Jiang’s decision.

It’s worth noting that the verdict in this case reached 11,000 words, covering 19 pages. Among all the cases she has heard, the “oil drilling method” patent cases impressed Jiang the most. There were over 80 pages of indictment and answer briefs, hundreds of pages of evidence and 11 points of dispute. “So many pages dazzled my eyes. Many cases have verdicts of dozens of pages. Superfluous and incorrect words can’t appear in a verdict. We do not have business cards - the verdicts are our business cards,” Jiang Ying said.

Jiang has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since 1995, which has led to joint deformities in her hands and feet. Sometimes Jiang even couldn’t move. Doctors told her to rest more to control the disease, and she always takes painkillers before each hearing.

In September 2010, Jiang, who had suffered two miscarriages, came to the maternity ward. However, she didn’t stop working. She propped a small table on the bed and worked overtime. On September 14, she gave birth to a daughter.

Jiang Ying is not only a protector of intellectual property rights but also an advocate. She has been invited to carry out legal literacy training for a variety of departments over 20 times and has held dozens of legal seminars. She has also explained issues related to intellectual property protection on CCTV, the Central People’s Broadcasting Station and other types of media.

On April 26, 2013, World Intellectual Property Day, Jiang appeared on six programs on CCTV’s Law Forum to help raise people’s awareness of IPR protection.

In September 2013, Jiang Ying’s Sina MicroBlog, “Judge Jiang Ying,” officially opened. She now has nearly 70,000 fans.

On October 18, 2013, open classes organized by the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court began on the Internet. This was the first open class recorded by a judge in the history of China’s court system. The lesson was viewed 1.46 million times in one day.

Jiang’s work never stops. She is always on the road.

Print E-mail

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

Add your comments...

• User Name Required
• Your Comment
• Enter the words you see:    
  Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.