Home>News Center>China
       
 

IPR violators put on notice
By Xiao Ma (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-24 05:32

Complaints of intellectual property rights (IPR) violations will be received and handled round the clock in 50 major cities soon, Vice-Premier Wu Yi said yesterday.

"We'll leave violators nowhere to hide," she told a conference on IPR protection and innovation, co-organized by the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC), the All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce and the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment.

The government has been sincere and serious in protecting IPRs, Wu said, adding that the country's improved legal framework, protection mechanisms, anti-piracy campaigns and publicity have helped a great deal.

Police and industrial watchdog staff dealt with 42,645 trademark infringement cases last year, with 3,529 people convicted and 845 facing trials, she added.

However, Wu admitted there is still a long way to go as IPR infringement is still rampant in some areas in certain cases, law enforcement is loose and government agencies are lenient with violators.

Wu called on businesses the mainstay of a market-oriented economy to take an active part in safeguarding IPRs, noting that "99 per cent of companies on the mainland have never applied for a patent, and only 40 per cent of them own a trademark."

Competition among companies will mainly be a contest of IPRs and every business has a duty towards IPR protection, she said.

An environment which ensures IPR protection will be a major attraction to overseas investors, she said.

CEC President Chen Jinhua said that on average, only 3 out of every 10,000 Chinese companies have independent IPRs. Between April 1985 and last December, the State Intellectual Property Office received only 2.76 million patent applications.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo Group, said the company had purchased software worth 10 billion yuan (US$1.23 billion) from Microsoft over the years, showcasing its commitment to respecting IPRs.

(China Daily 02/24/2006 page1)



Fire kills 5 in Northeast China
Aerobatics show in Hunan
Final rehearsal
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Australia, US, Japan praise China for Asia engagement

 

   
 

Banker: China doing its best on flexible yuan

 

   
 

Hopes high for oil pipeline deal

 

   
 

Possibilities of bird flu outbreaks reduced

 

   
 

Milosevic buried after emotional farewell

 

   
 

China considers trade contracts in India

 

   
  EU likely to impose tax on imports of Chinese shoes
   
  Bankers confident about future growth
   
  Curtain to be raised on Year of Russia
   
  Coal output set to reach record high of 2.5b tons
   
  WTO: China should reconsider currency plan
   
  China: Military buildup 'transparent'
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement