China boasts IP success, pledges harsher penalties

China has pledged to streamline cases and impose  harsher penalties for IP infringers next year, as the country looks to improve its  reputation on IP protection.

The Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) said stricter punishments, including punitive damages, will be in place by the end of the next year.

Elsewhere, the CNIPA claims that  an IP-focused division of the country’s Supreme Court has resolved more than 1,400 cases since it was opened last year.

A report published by the IP Court last week indicated that it had also dealt with 174 cases involving foreign parties, from the EU, US, Japan, and South Korea.

The specialist court has its own staff of technical experts, which improves its efficiency in processing cases, the report said.

The court was established in a bid to modernise China’s IP system and change the narrative around IP protection in China.

The US has criticised China over alleged IP theft while alleging that foreign companies are forced to hand over access to protected technology in order to gain entry to the Chinese market.

China refutes the claims but has pressed ahead with reforms to reassure foreign IP owners that they can safely do business in the country.

The practice of ‘forced technology transfer’ has been formally outlawed, while the Chinese government has pledged ever-harsher penalties for infringers.

Elsewhere, the Xi’an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone, located in the north-west of the country, is to establish an IP services system.

“We should build a coordinated operation mechanism, improve online and offline IPR protection assistance, and form a relatively complete intellectual property rights protection system,” a spokesperson said.