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State Working to Make Laws Mirror WTO
With China's entry into the World Trade Organization virtually assured, legislators are revising the nation's laws on intellectual property rights, a top government official said Tuesday in Beijing.
Jiang Ying, commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office said China is making its legislation compatible with the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property - the so-called TRIPs Agreement.
China's top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, has had two rounds of deliberations on an amendment to the Patent Law that is intended to better protect the rights of patent holders and simplify patent application procedures.
Amendments to the Trademark Law and the Copyright Law are also under way.
Jiang's remarks came at the two-day international symposium on China's challenges and opportunities in protecting intellectual property in the 21st century, which opened yesterday.
A representative of the European Commission, Paul Vandoren, told the meeting that the TRIPs Agreement is "a successful story of the Uruguay Round" and is a major step forward internationally in protecting intellectual property rights.
The TRIPs Agreement covers the major areas of intellectual property. It also provides for the minimum mechanisms WTO member countries must establish to ensure the rights of patent holders.
"China will seriously take its responsibilities after the accession into WTO," Jiang said.
The symposium covers issues ranging from the role of intellectual property in global trade and e-business to the enforcement of intellectual property rights protection in China.
The EU-China Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Co-operation Programme seeks to help the intellectual property rights system in China adapt to international standards, said Ingo Kober, president of the European Patent Office, which is responsible for the management of the programme.
The IPR Co-operation programme was established in October, 1998 and will close at the end of 2001.
The co-operation includes training of judges and lawyers, administrative and border enforcement, legislative support and technology transfer.
Vandoren said the co-operation programme will offer technical support to China so that its legislation is compatible with the TRIPs Agreement.
"The implementation of the TRIPs Agreement requires China not only to make necessary changes to its legislation, but also to provide adequate enforcement structures,"Vandoren said.
He said China should step up its enforcement in checking rampant piracy and counterfeiting.
Jiang said China is determined to curb piracy.
An anti-piracy campaign resulted in millions of pirated CDs being burned at the beginning of this year, Jiang said.
The symposium, sponsored by the State Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office under the framework of the EU-China Intellectual Property Rights Co-operation Programme, attracted 300 lawyers, trade directors, intellectual property experts and decision-makers both in Chinese companies and European enterprises.
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