Practical value of China’s new IP proposals questioned
A Beijing-based lawyer has questioned the value of the Chinese government’s proposed measures aimed at boosting IP protection in the country.
China has announced a deadline for comments on a series of guidelines but their practical value remains to be seen, she told WIPR.
The measures, in a document entitled "Deepening implementation of state IP strategy and strengthening and improving management on IP", were drawn up by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and other government organisations including the ministry of information and technology, and are intended to set up an “efficient administrative management” system for IP by 2020.
They also said law enforcement would need to be improved.
Stacy Yuan, of counsel at DLA Piper in Beijing, told WIPR the guidelines set “general requirement and guidelines on a very high level”, to encourage different authorities to improve their IP rights awareness.
However, Yuan added: “whether this has any practical value for IPR owners to enforce their rights in China still depends on each authority's practice and detailed implementations".
The announcement, made on the government website IPR in China, is the latest in a series of proposals aimed at improving China’s IP image.
Earlier this year, the government said it was exploring the possibility of implementing a court dedicated to hearing IP matters and also launched a six week operation aimed at targeting online IP infringement.
