On January 28, 2019, the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court passed the Regulations of the Supreme People's Court on the Participation of Technical Investigators in Litigation Activities of Intellectual Property Cases" (hereinafter referred to as " Regulations"). According to the Regulations, the system of technical investigators would be implemented in the people's courts for hearing technical IP cases. The Regulations has come into force since May 1, 2019.

Based on the experience gained by the intellectual property courts of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in carrying out the pilot work of the technical investigator system in recent years, the 15 articles of the Regulations clarify the status of technical investigators as adjuncts to the trial, and stipulate the procedures, duties, effectiveness and legal responsibilities of technical investigators in participating in intellectual property litigation activities. The Regulations clearly stipulate that the people's court may appoint technical investigators to participate in litigation activities when hearing intellectual property cases with strong technical specialties such as patents, new varieties of plants, layout design of integrated circuits, technical secrets, computer software, monopoly and so on.

Technical investigators participating in litigation activities shall apply the challenge system with reference to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, the Civil Procedure Law and the Administrative Procedure Law concerning the avoidance of other persons. According to the characteristics of the trial of intellectual property cases, the Regulations give guidance to the specific duties and procedures of technical investigators in participating in litigation activities with respect to the main links of the trial process such as pre-trial preparation, investigation and evidence collection, inspection and preservation, trial and review. As for the validity of technical investigation opinions, the Regulations emphasize that technical investigation opinions can be used as a reference for the collegial panel to determine technical facts, and the collegial panel shall be responsible for the determination of technical facts according to law. In order to strengthen the responsibility of technical investigators, the Regulations also stipulate the accountability of technical investigators for intentionally providing false technical investigation opinions.

The promulgation of the Regulations will further improve the system of technical investigators, promote the team construction of technical investigators, effectively enhance the neutrality, objectivity and scientificalness of the identification of technical facts, and provide more powerful guarantee for giving full play to the leading role of judicial protection of intellectual property rights.