-- By Huang Kunyi, Research Fellow, State Intellectual Property Rights Bureau

From commodity production knowledge finds its market value and there has been given rise to intellectual property rights protection and as a system it has its influence felt in people's life. This has led to legislation of various specific laws and reinforcement of administrative means on the part of governments. For a market economy being developed people apply themselves to various pursuits for innovations at various levels and in various aspects. This is a summary of experiences gained by people both in China and abroad.

A chief trend in gaining strength to become a powerful nation in present-day world is to develop a state innovation system. Indispensable is an incentive mechanism along with a competitive man-to-man relationship under an overall national innovation strategy to be mapped out in the way intellectual property rights are protected and innovative resources well distributed. China already has a modern intellectual property rights protection system of its own. On the basis of this, a perfect state innovation system should have all the more to be built:

1. Make it sure that a state innovation strategy be closely linked up with an intellectual property rights protection strategy. With an economy greatly developed we should strive to make new breakthroughs and see to it intellectual property rights are well protected, this must form the objective to build an innovation system of our own. If we only have an innovation strategy, while not helped by a strategy for intellectual property rights protection, though some success may have been wrested, when short of law protection, all advantages won will still come to no avail. We have already had many lessons from setbacks suffered. Comrade Deng Xiaoping once enjoined us that "China should have a proper place in world development of sciences and technologies". This is to say we are wanted to hold the initiative to work out all laws essential for intellectual property rights protection and a sound system to guarantee all innovative endeavors and a "proper place" in developing sciences and technologies all on our own.

2. Also, a coordinated competitive mechanism has to be constructed. Law legislation pursuits for intellectual property rights protection should center on a rigorous protection of various intellectual property rights. All rights and interests of the proprietors or innovators should be duly standardized. Take for example our patent law, apart from making specific definitions on the rights and interests of the innovators, the rights and interests of cooperators and users of patent rights should also be specifically defined. Specifications and stipulations on this score will surely protect the rights and interests of the innovators and those of their cooperators and users as well.

All laws for intellectual property rights protection have been called forth from specific demands along with many a varied protection forms that have to be provided. By their totality of overall interests induced they contribute likewise to a coordinated development of various forms of innovative endeavor. Commodity mark protection law is a case in point. Efforts to consolidate and enhance the credit of a commodity among its consumers will give rise to a great motive force stimulating intensive innovative endeavor, technological innovation and innovations in management of commerce and sales of commodity. Setting up a state innovation system should bring into full play various inner potential capabilities for intellectual property rights protection.

3. Be sure that normal information exchanges under the protection of related laws for intellectual property rights protection are well undertaken to counterbalance insufficient information supply. The reason why "difference in profession makes one feel worlds apart" and "two of a trade can never agree" is due to a lack of mutual understanding. This causes the difficulty in preventing the birth of an efficient innovation system. China should have an outstanding high-efficiency innovation information system for coordination. Such an information system can be had only when it is founded on a rigorous protection of various intellectual property rights. As many and various laws for intellectual property rights protection are under construction and are having amendments made in the country, a raise of the ability for promoting innovative pursuits should be regarded as an important guideline in working out a perfect intellectual property rights protection system in China.