China's protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is
improving, but we would like to see "faster and better"
improvements, said visiting US Secretary of Commerce Carlos
Gutierrez when addressing a roundtable on IPR protection on
Tuesday.
He said IPR protection is a "huge problem", but the Chinese side
is "showing an increasing ability" to deal with this very complex
matter.
Gutierrez listed several achievements China has made in this
regard that he "applauds".
Increased cooperation between Chinese and US law enforcement
agencies led to a major pharmaceutical raid. Another case involving
counterfeit Tamiflu had worldwide implications.
Chinese courts have protected trademarks or patents in major
cases involving companies such as GM and Starbucks. Actions to
counter textbook piracy on college campuses have been carried out.
China has revoked over 360 business licenses for audiovisual
products since July because of piracy.
The Chinese government now insists that legal operating system
software be pre-loaded on all computers produced in China or
imported from overseas, which has led to a noticeable drop in
software piracy.
A mutually beneficial trading relationship depends on a number
of factors, and IPR protection is critical, Gutierrez said.
He also proposed three specific IPR challenges that he hoped the
Chinese side would address in the near term.
He said China should lower criminal thresholds for prosecuting
those involved in commercial piracy and counterfeiting, allow
greater market access for audiovisual products, and -- like other
countries -- provide international laboratories with factory
exemplars of optical discs so that pirated discs can be traced to
their source.
(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2006)