The State Council has launched a special campaign to protect
intellectual property rights (IPR) throughout China.
The campaign, which will continue until August next year, aims
to make further progress in IPR protection, Zhang Zhigang, director
of the Office for the National IPR Protection Working Group, said
Monday in Beijing at a news conference held by the State Council
Information Office.
The special campaign includes trademarks, copyrights and
patents. It also targets the import and export of commodities,
various expositions, fairs and wholesale markets, the processing of
named-brand products, and printing and copying sites, said
Zhang.
Special efforts will be made in areas where large amounts of
counterfeited products are sold, he stressed.
"We have identified Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin
municipalities, and 12 provinces or autonomous regions as the key
areas of this campaign," said Zhang.
He said the campaign will specially focus on cracking down on
cases of pirated compact discs and infringed trademarks. Commercial
districts, hotels, restaurants and transportation centers will be
closely monitored.
Industrial and commercial administrations should harshly deal
with cases of infringement involving products such as foodstuffs,
drugs and agricultural materials that are closed related to public
safety and health.
Copyright administrations should do more to regulate markets
which are susceptible to infringement, such as publications,
audiovisual and software products.
They must severely crack down on unauthorized booths and mobile
vendors of pirated publications, audiovisual and software products.
They should also harshly crack down on online copyright
infringements, said Zhang.
Infringements of foodstuffs and drugs, as well as cases relating
to fraud, deception, and illicit profiting by organizations that
pose as official IPR authorities, international IPR organizations
or other legitimate organizations will also be severely dealt with,
Zhang said.
By the end of this year, judicial interpretations of relevant
questions regarding laws applicable to IPR-related crimes and
determining the penalties for IPR infringements will be issued.
In view of the types and geographical distribution of IPR
infringement cases in import and export, the customs service will
intensify its efforts to combat counterfeit and pirated imports and
exports at major ports, said Liu Wenjie, an official of the General
Administration of Customs.
The Chinese customs service will strengthen information
exchange, personnel training and international cooperation to
minimize the flow of pirated and counterfeit products across
borders, said Liu.
Zhang Qin, an official with the State
Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), said SIPO's Re-examination
Committee has declared the patent for Viagra, the US-based
pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc's anti-impotence drug, as invalid
in China because it does not conform with Article 26 of China's
Patent Law.
Zhang said Pfizer can bring a lawsuit to Beijing Higher People's
Court if it refuses to recognize this decision. SIPO's decision on
the patent will not take effect until the court makes its final
judgment.
Li Dongsheng, an official of State Administration of Industry
and Commerce, said Beijing Industrial and Commercial Department has
taken steps to ensure trademark protection at Xiushui Street, a
shopping venue popular with foreigners, which will soon be moved to
a new site.
The Beijing authorities have suspended 40 stands in the
capital's Hongqiao Market which sold faked foreign famous
trademarks. Any shops or stands that sell Louis Vuitton, Givenchy,
Fendi, Chanel, Burberry and another 20 foreign trademarks will be
regarded as trademark violators and be seriously punished.
A hotline on 12315 has opened to the public to report trademark
violations, said Li.
(China Daily September 7, 2004)