On 28^th November, the Seminar on Technology Innovation and Judicial Protection of Trade Secrets, hosted by Technological Innovation Research Base of the Supreme People’s Court for Intellectual Property Judicial Protection (Shanghai) and Shanghai Law Society, was held in Shanghai organized by Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property (SICIP) of Tongji University and Shanghai Intellectual Property Court.

Distinguished guests attended the Seminar, including Lin Guanghai, Vice Presiding Judgeof the Intellectual Property Division of the Supreme People's Court, Zhang Bin, Vice President of Shanghai High People's Court, Schweidong, Vice President of Shanghai Law Society, Chen Yajuan, President of Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, Wu Jiang, Executive Vice President of Tongji University. Present at the Seminar were also more than 80 experts and guests from the Supreme People’s Court, State Administration for Market Regulation, Shanghai Law Society, courts and universities all over China.

Prior to the Seminar was the unveiling ceremony of Research Basefor Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property (Tongji University) (the “Tongji Research Base”).In order to further promote the theoretical research work on the judicial protection of intellectual property, to study the important issues of China's judicial practices in the new era, to research and draw lessons from the beneficial experiences of intellectual property protection in foreign countries, and to constantly strengthen the combination of theory and practice, the Supreme People's Court established the Tongji Research Base based on SICIPof Tongji University. Lin Guanghai, Vice Presiding Judgeof the Intellectual Property Division of the Supreme People's Court, together with Vice President Wu Jiang of Tongji University, jointly unveiled the nameplate of theTongji Research Base.

In his speech, Lin Guanghai firstly congratulated on the Unveiling of Tongji Research Center , and hoped that SICIP of Tongji would make greater achievements in theoretical researches on intellectual property judicial protection in the future. He said that in recent years, some countries and economies constantly reform and improve the protection of trade secrets through the revision of domestic laws, which have posed new challenges for protection of trade secrets in China. But we shall notice that the protection of trade secrets has become increasingly important because of its connection with international trade, and the lack of international cooperation mechanism makes the protection of trade secrets more complicated. Besides, the acceleration of technology updateand integration makes the protection of trade secrets become more urgent, and the difference in exclusive rights makes the protection of trade secrets more difficult. He hoped that we could provide more effective judicial protection for trade secrets and more effective guarantee for scientific and technological innovation through judicial practice exploration and theoretical research.

Wu Jiang, Vice Executive President of Tongji University, introduced the current situation of the development of intellectual property discipline and talents cultivation in Tongji university and expressed his gratitude to all friends from other fieldsfor helping Tongji university develop its intellectual property discipline over the years. He said that after around two years of development, with the support of the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the China National Intellectual Property Administration of China(CNIPA), especially guidance from the Shanghai municipal government, SICIP of Tongji University has rapidly become a successful example of the international education of intellectual property in China, receiving high praise from theWIPO, the Ministry of Education and theCNIPA. He emphasized the important role of the seminar in the innovative promotion of trade secrets protection mechanism and the enhancement of core competitiveness of enterprises with the background of new scientific and technological revolution.

At the Seminar, judges of the Intellectual Property Division of the Supreme People's Court introduced the content of the draft of judicial interpretation on the application of law in the trial of cases involving infringement of trade secrets. Professor Shan Xiaoguang, dean ofSICIP, presided on the discussion of the second sessionover the distribution of burden of proof in civil cases of trade secrets infringementdisputes.Professor Liu Xiaohai of SICIP made a speech on the legal liability for infringement of trade secrets. Judges, experts and scholars from all over the country conducted in-depth discussions on the basic legal issues such as the constitutive elements of trade secrets and the hot and difficult topics related to the criminal protection of trade secrets. They exchanged practical experiences and proposed practical confusions, which provided practical samples and theoretical support for the further improvement of legislation and judicial rules.