Source: Shanghai Putuo District People's Court

On the afternoon of November 28, the Shanghai Putuo District People's Court (hereinafter referred to as the Putuo District People's Court) held a press conference to release the "2024 Shanghai Putuo District People's Court" Typical Cases of the District People’s Court on Optimizing the Business Environment” (hereinafter referred to as typical cases) and “Shanghai Putuo District People’s Court’s White Paper on Adhering to and Developing the “Fengqiao Experience” Trial of Intellectual Property Disputes in the New Era” (hereinafter referred to as the “White Paper”).

At the meeting, the Putuo District People's Court released a number of typical cases, covering multiple dimensions such as the protection of new business formats, the protection of corporate rights and interests, and the regulation of market order.

For example, in a case involving a dispute over a digital collection sales contract, the Putuo District People’s Court conducted a useful exploration of the legal boundaries of the digital economy with an open and inclusive judicial vision. In a case involving a dispute over an intellectual property licensing contract, the Putuo District People's Court used systematic thinking to propose a "package" dispute resolution model to find a balance between protecting technological innovation and practicing judicial justice.

Case 1

Determining the validity of the digital collection sales contract to protect new productivity - a sales contract dispute case between Tang Mouhong and a Shanghai technology company

Case Introduction

In August 2022, Tang Mouhong learned through the Internet that digital collections were sold in a mobile application software operated by a Shanghai technology company, so Tang Mouhong downloaded the application software and registered as a user. From August 2022 to December 2022, Tang Mouhong successively spent 193,598.08 yuan on the application software to purchase digital collections, and could use the "Tianhe Chain" blockchain link address built by a Shanghai technology company to check the purchased digital collections. Check it out. On December 20, 2022, a Shanghai technology company stopped operating the application software and required all buyers to apply for a refund at 20% of the purchased digital collection price, but Tang Mouhong did not agree. Now that a Shanghai technology company has stopped operating its application software, and Tang Mohong cannot view the purchased digital collections through the "Tianhe Chain" blockchain link address, the lawsuit claims that a Shanghai technology company should refund the entire payment of 193,598.08 yuan and compensate Tang in accordance with the law. Xuehong suffered losses, and advocated that the shareholders of a Shanghai technology company, a Chengdu digital technology company, and Zhang Mouhua, should bear the responsibility for repaying the company's debts. After trial, the Putuo District People's Court of Shanghai held that the transaction between Tang Mouhong and a Shanghai technology company regarding digital collections was consistent with the nature of a sales contract. The contract does not violate the mandatory provisions of laws and regulations, nor does it violate public order and good customs, and is legal and valid. As explained by the court, the parties reached a mediation agreement in court, whereby a Shanghai technology company, a Chengdu digital technology company, and Zhang Hua jointly returned part of Tang Mohong’s money, and the litigation fees were paid by a Shanghai technology company, a Chengdu digital technology company, and Zhang A certain Hua shared the burden. The legality of the mediation agreement will be confirmed by the People's Court after review. The mediation agreement has been fulfilled.

Referee’s Points

Digital HiddenIt is an emerging digital product born under Web3.0 technology. It is based on blockchain technology and generates a unique digital certificate for a specific work. It has artistic characteristics, uniqueness, scarcity and other characteristics, enjoys exchange value and property value, and is consistent with "commodity" characteristics. Currently, my country's laws and regulations do not prohibit the issuance and trading of digital collections as the subject matter. According to the principle of "whatever is prohibited by law" in the civil and commercial field, sales contracts with digital collections as the subject matter are legal and valid.

Typical significance

This case is a typical case in which the People's Court fulfills its function of serving according to law to ensure scientific and technological progress in the new era and protects new productivity. New quality productivity is the new quality of productivity in the era of new technological revolution and new industrial revolution, reflecting new changes and new trends in the development of advanced social productivity. The development of new productive forces requires the people's courts to accurately grasp their positioning, give full play to their judicial guarantee functions, and properly handle new conflicts encountered. This case uses digital collections as an incision. On the basis of affirming their legal validity, the disputes between the parties were successfully resolved through civil mediation. In the context of developing new productive forces, new commodities in the form of "digital +" Provide legal evaluation and appropriate protection, and also effectively implement the "Maple Bridge Experience" to achieve substantial resolution of conflicts and effectively enhance the people's sense of gain and satisfaction.