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| China's Action Plan on IPR Protection 2007 |
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IV. Institution Building (I) To strengthen macro management over IPR 1. To study and facilitate the formulation of the National IPR Strategy Program. 2. To study and facilitate the formulation of the 11th Five-Year Development Plan for China's IPR Undertakings. (II) To establish a highly potent enforcement coordination mechanism 1. To perfect the multi-department joint enforcement mechanism and establish working mechanisms for cross-region case transfer, information sharing and supporting investigation. 2. To improve and broaden the functions of such working platforms as information service, oversight on case handling, data and statistics, status evaluation and monitoring and early warning so as to organically inter-connect enforcement coordination and administrative enforcement agencies with public security units and judicial departments. 3. To continue to supervise and urge the implementation of the Opinions on the Timely Transfer of Suspected Criminal Cases in Administrative Enforcement. 4. To continue to intensify coordinated enforcement according to the requirement of Provisional Regulations on Intensifying Coordination and Collaboration in the Crackdown on Criminal Infringement upon Exclusive Right of Trademarks. 5. To continue to intensify coordinated enforcement according to the requirement of Provisional Regulations on Intensifying IPR-related Enforcement Collaboration. 6. To continue to intensify coordinated enforcement according to the requirement of Provisional Regulations on Intensifying Coordination and Collaboration in the Crackdown on Criminal Infringement upon Copyright. 7. To establish an inter-ministry consortium meeting mechanism led by the National Copyright Administration for the promotion of use of legitimate software. 8. To get an MOU on Strategic Cooperation signed by the General Administration of Press and Publication of China and Trademark and Patent Office of the US. (III) To perfect and standardize the service functions of IPR Service Centers 1. All localities should formulate implementing rules according to the Opinion on Establishing the Working Mechanism of IPR Service Centers (Document 2006 No. 42 of Office of the Rectification and Standardization of Market Order), establish a highly effective coordination mechanism of IPR enforcement and gradually build an IPR protecting system jointly contributed by administrative protection, judicial protection, safeguarding of IP holders' right, self-discipline of industries, services of intermediary institutions and social supervision. 2. To further perfect the building of IPR Service Centers with an extended coverage of key cities and regions and expanded service functions, improve the supervisory system and ensure the standardized operation of IPR Service Centers. 3. To promulgate Regulations on Effective IPR Protection during Fairs and Exhibitions by IPR Service Centers. 4. To promulgate Opinion on IPR Service Centers Serving the IPR Protection of Development Zones, High-tech Zones and Service Outsourcing Base Cities. 5. To organize the signing of Cooperation MOU by 50 IPR Service Centers and 54 State-level Development Zones during the Central China Expo, Fair on Cooperation, Investment and Trade between the East and the West and China International Fair of Investment and Trade. 6. To guide and organize IPR Service Centers to strengthen learning of laws, regulations and basic knowledge, compile and issue to various localities IPR Q&A. (IV) To perfect the enforcement supervision mechanism 1. Procuratorates at various levels should play their role of legal supervision, seriously examine the duplicate of Decision of Administrative Penalty copied and submitted by the administrative enforcement units. In the case where suspected crimes can be determined which should be transferred for criminal liabilities but not transferred, a written opinion of transfer should be issued to administrative enforcement units, with the implementation of such transfer supervised and urged. An opinion of correction should be issued when a case that should be filled has not. 2. Prosecuting agencies at various levels should continue to seriously investigate and penalize the discipline-violating offences and crimes of people working with the state functionaries behind those IP crimes, thus resolutely removing the "protective umbrella" of those crimes. 3. Efforts should be focused on working out resolutions for the specific problems arising in connecting administrative enforcement with criminal prosecution. Earnest studies should be carried out to resolve such problems as the criteria and evidence requirement for the transfer of suspected IP infringing criminal cases, thus advancing the work on administrative-judicial connection into greater depth. 4. Studies should be intensified over the introduction of standards and a long-term effective mechanism to the relevant work on administrative-judicial connection, with a complete legislative proposal tabled when necessary. 5. All regions should be mobilized to fully exploit hi-tech means and approaches to set up an information-sharing mechanism. 6. To continue to earnestly implement such systems as joint meetings, information notification and consultation of individual cases. 7. To rigorously follow through an accountability system for administrative enforcement, changing the entities assuming responsibility from the original authorities in charge to the enforcement entities. To clearly define the enforcement entities for different types of offenses, thus giving more prominence to the direct responsibilities borne by the enforcement entities. (V) To explore and improve the working mechanism of judicial IPR Protection 1. To continue to step up the placement of IPR tribunals in courts at various levels and optimizing the allocation of human resources, thus reinforcing the strengths in the hearing of IP cases and beefing up judicial protection of IPR. 2. To press ahead in working out a right-definition and dispute-settlement mechanism for such industrial properties as patents and trademarks. 3. To properly adjust the level criteria of court jurisdiction over civil cases by extending as much as possible the scope of cases of preliminary hearing accepted by the Intermediate People's Courts, gradually barring the Higher People's Courts from hearing cases of preliminary hearing the proceedings and nature of which do not carry universal legal applicability. 4. To explore the trial adoption of investigation orders. For evidences that are kept by relevant state authorities and are off limits to the parties concerned, and other evidences that the parties concerned are not able to collect on their own due to external reasons, they can be accessed for investigation and collection by the court-authorized lawyers representing the parties concerned. 5. To explore the mechanism of guarantee for discontinuance of proceedings and of interests agreement by the parties concerned. In the case where the stability of the rights and interests is hard to determine, proceedings may not be discontinued if the right-holders are willing to provide effective guarantees, or, decisions on whether or not to discontinue the proceedings will depend on the situation of the agreement on calculating methods for the entitled interests or incurred losses on the part of the parties concerned. (VI) To improve the management system for IP professionals 1. To formulate through studies the strategic objectives and implementing plans in advancing the contingent building of high-caliber IP lawyers. 2. To improve the management system that fully taps into the roles and contributions of IP lawyers. (VII) To set up a comprehensive platform of early warning, right-assurance and regulation 1. To set up an IP early warning mechanism for the information industry. 2. To work on the establishment of an overseas right-assurance mechanism for the IP of enterprises. 3. To set up a system of "blacklisted" infringing enterprises at conventions and exhibitions, formulating corresponding measures of penalty. 4. To work on a "blacklist" of enterprises, customs brokers and individuals exporting infringing goods. To conduct more checks on the goods declared by blacklisted enterprises and individuals within a certain time span. 5. To organize efforts to develop an "enforcement system of customs IPR protection" for better information-sharing by customs authorities across the country on IPR cases, helping them make targeted and timely adjustments to the key areas of enforcement. 6. To set up a regulatory platform for digital copyright, giving full play to the positive role of science and technology in administrative copyright enforcement and further improving the regulatory framework. 7. To improve and fully leverage upon the China patent technology information release platform. 8. To launch a systemic project of national cultural market regulation; to prepare for the establishment of an IPR office network for the cultural market; to explore the possibility of a reward fund for culture-market infringement reporting. (VIII) Others 1. To prepare for the creation of the Eagle-Eye Taskforce for combating internet-based IPR infringing crimes, with such main responsibilities as prevention, investigation and control of internet-based IPR crimes. 2. To promote the incorporation of IPR evaluation into the uniform registration and management system of judicial evaluation, thus gradually legalizing and standardizing the work on IPR verification. 3. To further improve regulation of the audio-visual markets and set up a regulatory system of long-term effectiveness. Great attention should be devoted to the regulation of law-abiding shops marketing audio-visual products, accompanied by regular checks and rigorous prosecution and penalty for illicit business activities. 4. To set up and launch the "reward fund for reporting and penalizing infringement and piracy", encouraging and rewarding the people reporting, investigating and prosecuting infringement and piracy cases. 5. To organize dedicated supervisions and inspections of printing and copy-making enterprises, investigating and penalizing according to law relevant infringing cases and crimes in the area of printing and copy-making. 6. To set up a patent information platform of relevant medicines and step up efforts in building an information network for medicine registration. 7. To vigorously follow through an accountability system of enforcement coordination. 8. To carry out review and evaluation of patent enforcement. 9. To strengthen documentation and publication of the relevant information on IP enforcement. (China.org.cn) |
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