The State Intellectual Property Office, China’s intellectual
property watchdog, announced Tuesday that Intellectual Property
Protection Publicity Week, a nationwide campaign to publicize IPR
protection, will begin in six days.
The activity is jointly organized by nine government agencies
under the State Council in celebration of World Intellectual
Property Day, said Wang Jingchuan, commissioner of the State
Intellectual Property Office. Wang Ziqiang, spokesman for the
National Copyright Administration, and An Qinghu, director of the
Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and
Commerce, appeared with Wang at a Tuesday press conference
sponsored by the State Council Information Office in Beijing.
China’s IPR system improved in 2003, with the total number of
applications for three kinds of patents breaking 300,000 and the
number of applications for trademark registration passing 450,000,
said Wang. The fight against intellectual property infringement
intensified, with particularly notable advances made in the
protection of new varieties of plants.
Yet piracy remains rampant in China. Wang Ziqiang, spokesman of
the National Copyright Administration, attributed the phenomenon to
a short legislative history concerning IPR protection. Public
awareness is relatively weak and many operators don’t fully
understand the market economy. This has led to widespread demand
for pirated disks.
Wang Ziqiang said that accurate figures are not available yet
concerning the economic losses resulting from piracy, since neither
the government nor non-governmental organizations have so far
conducted systematic and detailed investigations on the issue.
However, the Chinese government has called in the heavy forces
to crack down on unlawful activities. Since 1996, 182 illegal
videodisk production lines have been shut down. From 1996 to 2003,
the customs office confiscated some 300 million pirated disks; and
immigration inspectors have stepped up monitoring as well, which
has dealt a blow to piracy.
Wang pointed out that the equipment used on the 182 illegal
production lines was all imported. Also, he said, there has been a
veritable flood of pirated disks smuggled into China, illustrating
that many copyright infringement and piracy cases come from
abroad.
China, he said, is affected the most by infringement and piracy,
which have adversely influenced its economic development. Although
ending piracy is a long-term, complex and difficult job, as long as
all levels of government make sustained efforts the phenomenon will
be contained, said Wang.
Wang Jingchuan echoed him, saying that IPR infringement is a
historical problem in any market economy and one that needs
continuous and hard work to resolve.
“I understand the legal actions of some foreign countries,
including Japan, the United States and those in Europe, against
some Chinese companies for IPR infringement. But in fact, countries
that have implemented IPR systems for hundreds of years had a
historical period plagued with a flood of infringements, fake goods
and business deceits. Even today, in my personal opinion, no
country is free of infringement and only the degree of infringement
varies.”
The Chinese government attaches great importance to
strengthening IPR protection, according to Wang Jingchuan. In 2000
and 2001, China revised its major intellectual property laws and
regulations, such as the Patent Law, the Trademark
Law, the Copyright Law, and the Regulations on
Protection of Computer Software.
It also put in place numerous administrative regulations and
procedures, such as the Regulations on Protection of the
Layout Design of Integrated Circuits, Implementing Measures on
Copyright Administrative Sanction and Measures on Administration of
Patent Agencies. Rules and regulations that are inconsistent with
those of the WTO have been abolished.
“We are confident that we can curb the phenomenon some day
through the building of a legal system, law enforcement, publicity,
related training and other measures. We are also willing to take
advice from others and resolve related problems according to
international practice and Chinese laws,” Wang Jingchuan said.
(China.org.cn, April 14, 2004)