In a document on intellectual property rights (IPR) cases the
Supreme People's Court (SPC) said violators should be more heavily
punished.
"The document, the first of its kind issued by the country's
highest court, will serve as a guideline for IPR cases," said Chief
Justice of SPC's IPR Tribunal Jiang Zhipei. "It reflects the
country's determination to crack down on IPR offences and its
encouragement to innovation," he said.
Serious IPR violators could be sentenced from three to seven
years in prison along with severe financial penalties.?
A judicial interpretation issued by the SPC about two years ago
detailed how to deal with "serious cases" but failed to say under
which circumstances heavy sentences of more than five years should
be handed down. Nor did the interpretation clarify how much someone
should be fined for particular violations.
This legal hole left room for different verdicts in very similar
cases. But with the new document coming into force judges will be
in a position to hand down heavier sentences. For instance a
violator could be jailed for six or seven years if the law says the
nature of the crime demands a three to seven years' sentence.
"We shouldn't only sentence such offenders in a determined
manner but also make it economically impossible for them to commit
the crime again," SPC Vice-President Cao Jianming said at a news
conference.
Foreign officials and businesses have been complaining that it's
difficult to prosecute IPR violators in China and cases that have
been heard nearly always resulted in modest fines which don't
actually act as a deterrent.
A Beijing couple found guilty of selling 210,000 yuan ($27,000)
worth of fake ‘branded' clothes were sentenced to four years in
jail and fined 70,000 yuan ($9,000) last September. Another couple
in Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province were fined 20,000 yuan
($2,600) for selling 2,900 pirated DVDs and possessing 19,000
more.
IPR protection in China is covered by civil, administrative and
criminal regulations with civil judicial protection being the basis
of the entire system.
SPC figures show in 2005 that People's Courts across the country
handled 16,583 civil and 3,567 criminal IPR cases, up 21 percent
and 28 percent respectively, over the previous year.
On Monday Beijing also announced its IPR protection plan for the
next four years. It says the city will train more managerial-level
professionals for the work, inject more funds into IPR protection
and strongly encourage innovation.
(China Daily January 17, 2007)