On the afternoon of March 16th, Shanghai Intellectual Property Court held the ceremony of appointment of the first batch of technological investigators, on which President Wu Xielin granted the letters of appointment to the 11 technological investigators and gave a speech, Vice President Li Shulan proposed requirements on work of the technological investigators and Director Wang Renyan of the Political Department acted as the host. The appointed technological investigators made speeches, expressing that they would cherish this opportunity to be technological investigators, give play to their technical specialties and participate in the litigation activities according to law to provide technical support for judges to find out the technical facts. The 11 technological investigators appointed this time are all personnel for exchange and part-time duty and also the professional technicians from government offices, industrial associations, colleges and universities, scientific establishments and other institutions, covering such professional skill fields as material, chemical industry, electronic, communication, network, photoelectricity, medicine and telecommunication. 2 of them are permanent personnel, with a term of one year. Vice President Li Shulan proposed specific requirements on their work: first, find out their functional orientations. As technological assistants of the judges, the technological investigators should be different from both expert assistants who are entrusted by the parties and the judicial personnel who have jurisdiction; second, be familiar with the business procedures, participate in the litigation activities with the approval of the judges and put forward their technological review opinions; third, make clear their own duties and well execute their functions of participating in survey, inquiry, identification and other aspects of technical facts; fourth, observe the work guidelines based on the work instructions, avoid relevant affairs according to law and present rigorous technological investigations to judges for reference. President Wu Xielin pointed out that the appointment of the first batch of technological investigators marked the specific implementation of opinions of the central government, the municipal committee and the Supreme People’s Court on establishing the technological investigation system and 12 opinions of the municipal committee and government on application and protection of the intellectual property in Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, symbolized the further improvement of the “four-into-one” technological fact investigation system of Shanghai Intellectual Property Court and signified the further improvement and exertion of the professional trial mechanism of Shanghai Intellectual Property Court. President Wu Xielin also emphasized two points: first, have a profound understanding of the significance of establishment of the technological investigator system and strengthen the confidence in the system operation. The establishment of the technological investigation system is a key measure to reform Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, helping to distinguish true and false technologies and identify the ownership of the rights to provide professional support for judgment of intellectual property; an important move to legally, fairly and effectively safeguard the rights of the parties, decreasing the questioning of the parties to the court’s judgment; and a considerable initiative to strengthen the development of the judge team, contributing to deepening the understanding of judges and specialties. Second, grasp the orientation accurately, give play their special functions, make clear assistant roles, focus on technological investigation, enhance professional analysis and strictly comply with the disciplines. Third, actively explore and innovate, consistently accumulate the operation experience of the technological investigation system and continuously perfect the technological investigation system through increasingly deepened practice and joint efforts with the court and judges so as to make contributions to reform of the judgment mechanism of intelligent property in China. Fourth, be passionate and careful and make every effort to support work of the technological investigators and fully guarantee their legal performance of duties. The court should provide support for the technological investigators’ participation in the litigation activities, as well as daily work and life of permanent technological investigators, and provide good service and guarantee work.
