Foreign firms see great progress in nation’s efforts to protect IPR
Foreign companies have seen great improvement in China’s intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in recent years, and some consider that joint efforts by governments and companies are effective solution to tackle infringement, business representatives told the Global Times at the China International Import Expo (CIIE).
Company representatives including US sportswear and footwear company Nike, technology giant Qualcomm and industrial product maker ABRO all showed their confidence over China's ability to deal with any challenges in the field of IPR.
Robert Barchiesi, president of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), also said he had seen great improvement in the field of IPR protection in China from 2008 to 2018. “It’s nice and we look forward to seeing more happen,” he told the Global Times on Thursday.
The presence of these US companies at the CIIE also showed their willingness to grow business in China, and to enhance cooperation with Chinese authorities in the IPR area.
As many innovative domestic companies still face problems like patent infringement, industry representatives called for cooperation between governments and companies to tackle those issues.
“To date we have taken down more than 400,000 infringing listings, and they [Alibaba] shut down more than 60,000 store fronts,” Barchiesi said.
He also noted that the IACC signed an agreement with Alibaba in 2013 and works closely with the company to crack down on infringement.
He also regarded cooperation between the authorities and companies as part of the solution. “That’s the reason why I work with Alibaba. I think it’s a matter of collaboration... and no one could do it on their own.”
China has continued to reinforce protection through legislation, law enforcement and the judiciary, and achieved some notable successes, according to a white paper issued by the Chinese government in September, the Xinhua News Agency reported on September 24.
China built a fully fledged and high-standard IP legal framework in a relatively short period, compared with the decades or more that developed countries spent setting up similar legal systems, Xinhua said, citing the white paper.
The country’s top legislature is also considering a change of the intellectual property rights (IPR) appeals procedure, which would hand the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) cases that require more expertise, Xinhua reported on October 22.
“The SPC will have a national appeal court for civil and administrative IPR cases,” Chief Justice Zhou Qiang was quoted as saying in the media report when elaborating on a draft resolution on the IPR appeal procedure at the bi-monthly session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.