China directive to strengthen IPR protection
THE general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council have jointly issued a directive calling for intensified protection of intellectual property rights.
Titled “The Guideline on Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights Protection,” the document aims to implement decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on stepping up IPR protection and improve related systems and mechanisms.
“Strengthening IPR protection is the most important content of improving the IPR protection system and also the biggest incentive to boost China’s economic competitiveness,” reads the document.
The document said China will make comprehensive use of the law, technology and social governance policies to step up IPR protection.
According to the document, by 2022, China will strive to effectively curb IPR infringement, and largely overcome challenges including high costs, low compensation and difficulties in providing evidence for safeguarding intellectual property rights.
By 2025, social satisfaction with IPR protection in China will reach a high level.
Meanwhile, China will strengthen the punishment for infringements and counterfeiting, and improve the protection system for new business forms.
The document calls for speeding up the introduction of a punitive compensation system for infringements of patents and copyrights, and strengthening the protection of trade secrets, confidential business information and their source codes.
China will also make greater efforts to step up international cooperation in IPR protection, facilitate communication between domestic and foreign rights holders, and provide support in overseas IPR disputes.
China has strengthened its IPR protection with unprecedented intensity in recent years, said Zhang Zhicheng, an official with the National Intellectual Property Administration.
For example, to deter firms from infringing upon IPR, China has been working to improve the system of punitive damages for infringement, Zhang said.
Meanwhile, China has raised the efficiency of its approval process for trademark patents. At present, the average approval cycle for invention patents is just under two years, and the time of approval for trademark registration averages less than five months, Zhang said.
On October 22, the State Council of China publicized the Regulation on Optimizing Business Environment with special concentration on enhancing high-quality business environments through the protection of market entities’ property rights.
It was the first time an official document from the central government clarified the correlation between IP protection and the business environment.
(Xinhua)