CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Hans She, Muran Sun, Andy Zhu and Ray Cao, Fangda Partners
fore, the court will not withhold or reduce relief if the claimant/plaintiff opts to directly file civil actions. Furthermore, since there is no require - ment for the registration or recording of a licen - see to bring legal action, there is no penalisation on relief for an exclusive licensee claimant not named on the Patent Register.
Article 57 addresses cases where the subject matter of action for each party is of the same kind and the parties on one side of an action are numerous, but the exact number of such parties is uncertain when the action is instituted; here the court may publish a notice to describe the case and claims, and may notify right-holders to be registered with the court within a certain period of time. The right-holders that have been registered with the court may appoint a repre - sentative or representatives to participate in the litigation; if no representative is appointed, the court may determine a representative or repre - sentatives in consultation with the right-holders that have been registered with the court. Additionally, the litigation conduct of such repre - sentatives shall bind all the parties represented; however, to modify or relinquish any claims, admit any claims of the opposing party or reach a settlement, such representatives must first obtain consent from the parties represented. The judgment or ruling issued by the court shall bind all right-holders that have been registered with the court, and shall also apply to actions insti - tuted during the time limitation by rights-holders that have not been registered with the court.
11. Collective Redress 11.1 Group Claims
In China, group claims are available in civil liti - gation but are not common in the life sciences/ pharma sector. Article 56 of the PRC’s Civil Procedure Law pro - vides that, where the parties on one side of a joint action are numerous, such parties may appoint a representative or representatives to participate in the action, and the litigation conduct of such representatives shall bind all the parties repre - sented. However, to modify or relinquish any claims, admit any claims of the opposing party or reach a settlement, such representatives must first obtain consent from the parties represented.
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