Shi Bisheng: China's leading expert on IP

Scientific and technological innovation plays a vital role in the development and progress of human society; intellectual property protection plays a decisive role in promoting scientific and technological innovation.

The perfection of the intellectual property system and the strengthening of intellectual property protection are inseparable from the development of intellectual property law theory and the contributions of intellectual property experts.

In the past 20 to 30 years, many outstanding experts on intellectual property have emerged in China, playing an essential role in the overall development of intellectual property in China, including Dr. Shi Bisheng.

The main characteristic of Dr. Shi Bisheng is that he can combine profound theoretical research ability with rich judicial practice experience.

He has published successively three monographs between 2012 and 2016, namely, Research on Assessment of Inventive Step of Patent, Judicial Perspective on Patentability and Judicial Protection for Digital Network Intellectual Property.

These monographs have essential demonstration significance for promoting the combination of legal theory and judicial practice of intellectual property rights in China.

Given appreciation to his outstanding achievements in theoretical research and practical work on intellectual property, Shi was elected to the standing council of China Intellectual Property Society (CIPS), which is China's top intellectual property academic research institute, in 2017.

Currently, Shi is a partner at Zhonglun law firm, the Chinese law firm which has received the most first-level referrals for six consecutive years from Chambers and Partners, and he is also an adjunct professor at China University of Political Science and Law, one of China's top law schools.

As one of the most representative intellectual property professional medias in China, China IP Magazine interviewed Dr. Shi Bisheng for many times and invited him to be an expert contributor of China IP Magazine for a long time.

We believe that Dr. Shi's outstanding achievements in both theoretical research and judicial practice are inseparable from his learning, research and work experience.

In 1999, Shi obtained his bachelor's degree in engineering from China University of Mining and Technology, which its strong foundation laid a good support for his patent research and practice.

In 2007, Shi passed the National Qualification Examination for Patent Attorneys with less than 8% passing rate, becoming one of the few judges with patent attorney qualification in China at that time.

After graduating from China University of Mining and Technology, Shi was admitted to China University of Political Science and Law to study for the second bachelor's degree in law.

During his study, Shi was able to pass the National Judicial Examination with less than 7% passing rate in 2002.

During his study at China University of Political Science and Law, Shi realized that law is the career direction suitable for his overall development.

In 2002, he began pursuing a master's degree in civil and commercial law at Peking University.

Soon after earning his master's degree, Shi started pursuing the doctoral degree in comparative law at China University of Political Science and Law in 2008.

During the study of master's degree and doctor's degree, Shi Bisheng wrote and published many papers in combination with judicial practice, and his academic research ability was improved rapidly.

Due to its high theoretical and practical value, Shi's doctoral thesis Comparative Research on Assessment of Inventive Step of Patent was awarded as one of the ten outstanding doctoral theses of China University of Political Science and Law in 2011.

In 2012, Shi Bisheng was engaged in the post-doctoral research of intellectual property law in East China University of Political Science and Law.

His post-doctoral outbound report was awarded as the 2015 excellent post-doctoral research report of East China University of Political Science and Law.

The excellent doctoral thesis and the excellent post-doctoral research report prove that the two top law schools in China have recognized the excellent academic research ability of Dr. Shi Bisheng.

"From practice to practice" is Dr Shi's approach to research, which stems from his unique experience of working while doing research for many years.

In 2001, Shi began working at the Beijing Haidian District People's Court.

In the following 16 years of court work, Shi Bisheng worked in the court while studying and conducting theoretical research in universities, which effectively promoted the deep integration of theoretical research and judicial practice. In 2004, Shi was appointed a judge for his excellent work as a judge's assistant and began hearing cases independently.

In 2010, Shi was selected as a judge of the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Beijing High People's Court for his outstanding performance during his judgeship in the Beijing Haidian District People's Court.

In the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Beijing High People's Court, Shi Bisheng, with his strong research ability, was selected as the director of the patent research team.

In 12 years as a judge, Shi had heard and reviewed more than 2,500 IP cases and more than 1000 commercial cases, some of which have established important precedents and were widely acclaimed, such as that internet competitors shall follow the "Doctrine of Non-interference Unless Necessary for Public Interest", patent inventive step assessment shall follow the principles of "Doctrine of Comprehensive" and "Doctrine of Overall", and so on.

Shi heard multiple important cases, among which, one case was officially recognized as "China Courts' Top 10 IP Case", three cases were officially recognized as "China Courts' Top 10 Innovative IP Cases", four cases were officially recognized as "Beijing Courts' Top 10 IP Cases", and two cases were officially recognized as "Beijing Courts' Top 10 Innovative IP Cases".

Due to his outstanding judicial performance, Shi was widely recognized as a famous intellectual property judge in China. In early 2016, Shi switched from judge to lawyer and joined a prestigious law firm as a partner.

In the process of providing legal services as a lawyer, Shi Bisheng still attaches great importance to the study of legal theory and the combination of theoretical research and judicial practice.

Due to his outstanding research ability, Dr. Shi was invited to participate in some major research projects.

For example, he was invited as the co-author to participate in many focus research projects, including the research project hosted by the Supreme People's Court on Copyright Protection of Computer Fonts, the research project hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Intellectual Property Protection regarding E-Commerce, and the research projects hosted by the Beijing Courts on Guidelines for Determination of Patent Infringement, Intellectual Property Judicial Protection of E-Commerce and Judicial Rules on Inventive Step of Invention.

In addition, Dr. Shi once won the First Prize Significant Research Project Award from the Beijing High People's Court.

The outstanding academic level of Dr. Shi Bisheng is reflected in his high-quality academic achievements. Doctor Shi Bisheng has published three monographs, namely Research on Assessment of Inventive Step of Patent, Intellectual Property Publishing House (IPPH), 2012, Judicial Protection for Digital Network Intellectual Property, IPPH, 2016, and Judicial Perspective on Patentability, IPPH, 2016.

These three monographs are respectively groundbreaking works, combining theory and practice in this field, which have an important influence on the theory and practice of intellectual property law in China.

Shi wrote more than 100 academic and professional papers, and published them on core scholarly periodicals and authority newspapers, these scholarly periodicals include Chinese Journal of Law, Comparative Legal Studies, Intellectual Property, Law Application, People's Judicature, Electronic Intellectual Property and Hebei Law, etc., and the authority newspapers include People's Court Daily and China Intellectual Property News, etc.

It is particularly worth mentioning that academic periodicals such as Chinese Journal of Law and Comparative Legal Studies are the top academic periodicals in China, and the authors who can publish academic papers for several times are the best legal scholars in China.

As a famous intellectual property expert both in theory and practice, Dr. Shi Bisheng has been invited to participate in the revision of intellectual property law and the formulation of judicial interpretations.

For example, he was invited as an expert to the professional seminars hosted by Legal Affairs Office of the State Council regarding the proposed revision of Patent Law of the People's Republic of China and Law of the People's Republic of China against Unfair Competition.

Dr. Shi is also highly active in supporting the making of judicial interpretations and judicial regulations.

For example, he participated in discussing the Supreme People's Court's draft judicial interpretations concerning patent infringement, patent prosecution, and patent invalidation proceedings.

He also participated in drafting Beijing High People's Court's Guidelines for Determination of Patent Infringement and Responses to Questions Regarding the Trial of IP Disputes in E-Commerce. China Intellectual Property Society is the most representative and authoritative research organization in China.

The standing council of China Intellectual Property Society has strict selection criteria for its candidates. As China's top law institution education, China University of Political Science and Law has also invited Shi Bisheng to serve as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School.

Intellectual property rights have a strong international character, so does the theoretical research and practical experience of Dr. Shi Bisheng.

As the intellectual property systems of almost all countries in the world have strong commonality, Dr. Shi attaches great importance to the study of theoretical-practical issues from the perspectives of internationalization and comparative law.

In the process of writing the doctoral dissertation and postdoctoral research report, Shi Bisheng made extensive reference to and studied relevant laws and cases in developed countries such as the US and Germany.

In the process of writing monographs "Research on Assessment of Inventive Step of Patent" and "Judicial Perspective on Patentability", he made extensive reference to relevant cases and rules in the US Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) and the Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office, as well as relevant academic research results in the US and Europe.

In 2013, as a member of the six-member delegation of Chinese patent judges, Shi attended the University of Washington's Center for Advanced Study and Research on Innovation Policy (CASRIP) , then visited United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and held a symposium on intellectual property protection with judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and lawyers from Federal Circuit Bar Association (FCBA).

Shi spoke in depth with judges on the CAFC, including Randall Ray Rader, Sharon Prost, and Pauline Newman.

After working as an intellectual property litigator, Shi has also provided legal services to many Fortune 500 companies in the US, Europe, and Japan.

In the process of legal services, Shi also actively participated in international academic exchanges, such as the 2017 UK-China IP Symposium, and continued to conduct in-depth comparative research on the intellectual property systems, laws and cases in the above countries and regions.

Under the trend of increasingly high internationalization of intellectual property protection, Shi Bisheng continually strengthens his theory and practice ability of internationalization.

In our communication with Dr. Shi Bisheng, we realized that many patent lawsuits at present involve the simultaneous litigation of the same patent family in other countries and regions.

High-level intellectual property experts with international vision are the key to deal with issues about how to coordinate patent litigation in different countries and regions if the same patent family is involved in litigations in the United States, Europe, and China simultaneously, and how to develop litigation strategies that meet both the commercial purposes of clients and the legal rules of each country.

According to Shi, more and more countries and companies need high-level intellectual property experts with an international perspective, and such high-level particular experts should have high theoretical and practical ability, as well as the rich practical experience of a particular country and multinational cooperation experience.

As such a senior expert, Dr. Shi Bisheng plays an increasingly important role in international patent litigation.

"Knowledge" refers to the profound theoretical foundation and broad international vision.

"Practice" refers to rich judicial experience and transnational practical experience.

"Unity of Knowledge and Practice" summarizes the characteristics of Dr. Shi Bisheng and reveals the reasons why he is an outstanding intellectual property expert.

The history of human civilization is a history of continuous progress in science and technology.

Countries in the world have never been as inseparable as they are now. We hope that there will be more outstanding experts like Dr. Shi Bisheng, dedicated to effectively promoting scientific and technological innovation for all humankind by strengthening intellectual property protection so that innovation drives development and creates a better future for humankind.