(Photo: China Daily)

BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature is considering a change of the intellectual property right (IPR) appeals procedure, which would hand the Supreme People's Court (SPC) cases that require more expertise.

"The SPC will have a national appeal court for civil and administrative IPR cases," said Chief Justice Zhou Qiang, when elaborating a draft resolution on the IPR appeal procedure at the bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Monday.

"Due to the complexity of IPR cases and expertise needed for their trials, a national appeal court will help prevent inconsistency of legal application and improve the quality and efficiency of trials," Zhou said.

"A national IPR appeal court will also help nurture a favorable legal environment for technological innovation and a better business environment for domestic and international enterprises."

IPR cases refer to a broad range of lawsuits such as patents, copyright, trademarks, new plant varieties, integrated circuit layout design, and monopoly.

"The national appeal court will mainly handle appeals of cases that require more technological expertise, such as patent cases," Zhou said.

Chinese courts heard a total of 213,480 IPR cases in 2017, 40.4 percent more than in 2016, and doubling the number from 2013.