Judges trained for global IP cases

With a steady rise in intellectual property cases involving foreign litigants during the past five years, China has improved the quality of such hearings by educating judicial officials, according to the nation's top court.

"The proportion of IP disputes involving foreign individuals and companies is as high as 20 percent a year, and it is increasing," said Song Xiaoming, chief judge of the Supreme People's Court's IP Tribunal.

"Most foreign-related cases focus on patents and are related to the United States," he said on Wednesday after a news conference about IP protection arranged by the State Council Information Office.