China claims it ‘effectively’ protects IP: government report
Since acceding to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China has “lived up to its responsibility as a major country” by “effectively” protecting IP rights, according to a report from China’s State Council Information Office (SCIO).
SCIO published a white paper entitled China and the WTO today, June 28.
Since 2001, China “has made continued efforts to improve its socialist market economy system, further align its policies with multilateral trade rules in all areas, honour its commitments on opening trade in goods and services, and strengthen IP rights protection”, the white paper said.
The EU recently submitted a filing at the WTO, alleging that China is in breach of the TRIPS Agreement and other legal agreements covering IP. The filing said China discriminates against foreign IP owners and restricts their ability to protect IP in China.
However, the government report noted that China’s State Intellectual Property Office has been restructured to “strengthen law enforcement” in IP, and that China has also set up three specialist IP courts.
Administrative law enforcement efforts have also been strengthened, SCIO said, and “special campaigns targeting outstanding problems” in IP have been introduced.
Campaigns include ‘Convoy Campaign’ for protecting patent rights, ‘Sword-net Campaign’ for combating piracy, ‘Sweeping Campaign’ for cracking down on copyright infringement, and ‘Sword Actions on Quality Control’ to tackle counterfeiting.
Last year, nearly 1.4 million invention patent applications were filed in China, ranking the country as the top in the world for the seventh year. The growth of foreign entities filing the applications has grown threefold since 2011, reaching 136,000 in 2017, compared with just 33,000 in 2011.
SCIO noted that in 2017, China filed the second-most Patent Cooperation Treaty applications after the US.
Going forward, the country will adopt a “more open attitude” which is aimed at strengthening the protection of innovation and IP rights. This will ensure that “technological development and innovation benefit not only China, but also the world”, said the report.
The white paper also said that “China explicitly opposes unilateralism and protectionism” in international trade.
“Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room”, SCIO said, which seems to hint at the trade war that has been brewing between China and the US since US President Donald Trump took office.
Earlier this month, the US announced a 25% tariff on $50 billion of goods from China in response to “several unfair practices related to the acquisition of American IP and technology”.
China responded by announcing its own 25% tariff on 659 US products, equating to roughly $50 billion in value.
Yesterday, the US moved forward with plans to limit Chinese investments in the US, according to Bloomberg. Legislation to strengthen the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, in an effort to prevent companies from violating the IP rights of US companies, was supported by Trump in Congress.
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