Judicial Protection on IP Effective in China: ExpertsDozens of American experts and 200 other people from all walks of life Wednesday heard a trial on trade secret disputes between two high-tech enterprises at the People's Court of Haidian District in Beijing.They agreed that judicial protection on intellectual property ( IP) is strict and effective in China. Andy Y. Sun, executive director of the Asia-Pacific Law Academy in Washington D.C., said that today's case is not a big one, but it attracted close attention of the public, indicating that Chinese people have become strongly aware of the importance of self-protection and judicial protection in the field of IP infringement. "They used to care more about affairs in criminal courts," Sun said. Sun and his colleagues are attending a number of seminars on law consultation and IP protection, parts of the ongoing Beijing International High-Tech Industries Week. The trial procedure is strict, Sun said, if every case of such kind can successfully be solved through judicial means in China, the IP protection of domestic and international high-tech firms will be greatly ensured. This also helps bring along an environment with legal guarantee for attracting overseas investment and introducing high technology, he said. Zhang Lumin, presiding judge of the IP courtroom of the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court, said that the Chinese government has made considerable efforts to establish and improve a complete legal framework for IP protection over the past 20 years. Since 1982, China has promulgated and implemented a series of laws on IP protection, including trademark law, patent law, technology contract law, copyright law, anti-unfair competition law and regulation on computer software protection. Meanwhile, the country has joined a number of international IP protection pacts and organizations, including the International Intellectual Property Organization and the World Copyright Pact, according to the judge. China set up its first IP courtrooms in the Beijing municipal higher and intermediate courts in 1993. So far, the courtrooms have accepted 3,094 IP-related cases, of which 93 percent were handled. Bai Liang, an expert from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that the country's current legal system and judicial practice in the field of IP protection is in urgent need of reform to meet the needs of a fast-growing knowledge-based economy in the new century. The establishment of a new legal system for IP protection will play a crucial role in safeguarding the country's booming economy, cultural progress and technological advancement in the new century, Bai noted. |
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