China's IPR Regime

China's IPR Regime

By WANG QISHAN
June 17, 2008

Prior to this week's fourth round of Strategic Economic Dialogue talks with the U.S., the Chinese government unveiled the Outline of National Intellectual Property Rights -- a new strategy to tackle the many issues surrounding IPR. This new strategy will improve IPR protection in China and attract greater intellectual resources from abroad.

Moreover, the implementation of this strategy -- a milestone in the institution of China's IPR regime -- will boost innovation at home and turn China's abundant human resources into intellectual resources, having a positive and far-reaching impact on economic and social development in China.

China entered its new historical stage of reform and opening-up in 1978. It wasn't until then that China began to introduce the concept of intellectual property rights and put in place an IPR regime. Since then, China has promulgated and enforced a host of IPR laws and regulations, including the Trademark Law, the Patent Law, the Copyright Law, the Law Against Unfair Competition, the Rules for Computer Software Protection and the Regulations on the Protection of the Right of Communication Through Information Network.

China has acceded to relevant international conventions, established IPR management and protection regimes, set up the Legal Aid Center for IPR Enforcement and the Service Center for IPR Protection, punished various IPR violations according to law and protected the interests of IPR holders. On IPR, China has managed to accomplish in 30 years what took Western-developed countries more than 100 years.

In recent years, in order to stimulate enthusiasm for invention and innovation and to promote economic development and social progress, China has intensified IPR protection. Since 2004, a nationwide campaign for IPR protection has been carried out each year to end trademark, patent and copyright infringements -- particularly in import and export, wholesale markets, trade fairs, original-equipment manufacturer, printing and reproduction.
The ongoing 2008 IPR protection campaign includes 280 measures in 10 areas. In April alone, more than 810 events under the framework of "IPR Protection Publicity Week" were staged by competent authorities in different localities to enhance public awareness. More than 1.3 million people were directly involved in these activities.

IPR protection in China has paid off. Thanks to intensified efforts to raise public awareness of IPR protection and severe penalties for IPR violations, more and more people have begun to say no to counterfeit products and pirated software; applications for trademarks and patents have multiplied; and enterprises are more aware of the importance of branding, resulting in more branded products and fewer counterfeits in the market.

The Xiangyang Street Market in Shanghai, which was known for selling replicas of brand products, has been closed down as required by law. Meanwhile, Silk Street in Beijing, also known for its knock-offs, went through rectification and has since become a distribution center of famous brands. The number of foreign applications for patents and trademarks in China is growing rapidly. More and more multinationals have started setting up their R&D centers in China.

The implementation of the national IPR strategy will open a new chapter of IPR protection in China. Guided by the policy of incentive-based IP creation, effective usage, legal protection and scientific management, we will focus on improving the IPR regime, creating a legal market and cultural environment conducive to IPR protection, and substantially upgrade China's capacity in IP creation, IPR usage, protection and management so as to provide strong support for our endeavor to build an innovative country and a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

How will we do this? In the following four ways:

- First, we will make timely revisions to IPR legislation, including the laws on patent, trademark and copyright as well as regulations on their implementation. We will also bring forward legislation in the areas of hereditary resources, traditional lore, folk arts and geographical marks so as to improve the overall framework for IPR law enforcement and management.

- Second, we will speed up the revision of laws and regulations on punishment of IPR infringements, and strengthen the systems of judicial protection and administrative law enforcement. We will mainly rely on judicial protection for protecting intellectual property rights. We will mete out more severe penalties, reduce the cost of IPR protection and deter violation by raising its cost.

- Third, we will properly define the scope of intellectual property rights to prevent their abuse, ensure a level playing field and protect lawful rights and interests of the public. We will ensure a better mesh of our IPR policy with those of culture, education, scientific research and public health in order to uphold people's rights to properly use the information and fruits of innovation in ways permitted by law in their activities in culture, education, scientific research and health, and make sure that innovation achievements are shared more equitably.

- And finally, we will launch extensive educational programs among the public to further encourage innovation, promote such moral standards as honesty and credibility, and condemn plagiarism, piracy and counterfeiting. We will raise people's IPR awareness and foster an innovation-friendly IPR culture in which knowledge and integrity are respected and laws and regulations are complied with.

We are confident that China's national IPR strategy, with its full enforcement, will result in more strict legal protection of intellectual property rights and greater respect for innovation achievements.

As a developing country in the process of accelerating industrialization and urbanization, China still has a long way to go before it can catch up with the U.S. in IPR generation, usage, protection and management. We hope that China and the U.S. can work more closely on intellectual property rights, duly recognize their disparities in capabilities and standards of IPR protection, and properly handle their differences and disputes.

Our two countries need to work together to overcome difficulties and challenges and encourage our business sectors and the general public to create more intellectual property rights for the benefit of our two peoples and humanity as a whole.

Mr. Wang is vice premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China.