Global ambitions center around utilizing rule of law to help advance rapid growth

A three-year work plan on promoting Beijing's digital economy using the rule of law was unveiled on Thursday, as a new step to help the capital become a global model city in the data industry.

The plan, consisting of 22 measures in four chapters, was issued by the Beijing High People's Court at the Forum on Intellectual Property and Digital Economy Development, a sub-forum of the Global Digital Economy Conference 2023.

To advance the rapid growth of core technologies, the plan calls for courts to improve legal protection in major areas, including integrated circuits, critical software, artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing, by utilizing computer software, trade secrets and patents to meet the needs in these fields.

It states that courts across the city should attach importance to utilizing technologies to better solve relevant disputes.

It also requires judges to focus more on 5G, AI and blockchain, and conduct research into new problems brought by the combination of information technology and healthcare.

"Through their research, judges can take the initiative to participate in forming rules concerning digital health to regulate the emerging industry and maintain its orderly development," Ren Xuefeng, vice-president of the high court, said while explaining the plan at the forum.

In addition, courts across the city should further tap the institutional potential of IP protection in the fields of patents, trade secrets and computer software to enhance market entities' ability to facilitate innovation, application and protection, he said.

"We'll further specify the measures year by year in accordance with the plan and run trials to provide sufficient legal support for the capital to become a model city of digital economy in the world," he added.

To solve difficulties in the data industry, "we've not only set up a special team to conduct research on data issues and tackle relevant lawsuits, but also established a workshop consisting of experts and judges to follow advanced technologies, trends and policies in this regard", Liu Shuangyu, president of the Beijing IP Court, said while giving a keynote speech at the forum.

She confirmed that how to protect data-related rights and how to draw a boundary between the moderate monopoly of traditional IP achievements and the open sharing of the digital economy are not easy jobs in case hearings, especially with the rise of digital platforms, noting that it requires the wisdom of judges.

"The increasingly emerging business forms and the application of new technologies, such as AI and algorithm recommendation, have made cyber infringements easier to do, but harder to discover. It also means more challenges in evidence ascertainment and collection," she said. "That's why our litigation rules and procedures should keep up with the times."

Representatives from domestic and foreign IP-related administrations, courts and enterprises also participated in the forum, exchanging their ideas and advice on how IP can empower digital economic growth.