CHINA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW NEWSLETTER
Vol. 4 , No. 4 - March 24, 2003
VISIT LLX AT INTA INTA 125th Annual Meeting 2003
May 3 - 7 in Amsterdam
RAI International Exhibition & Congress Centre LEHMAN, LEE & XU welcomes you to participate in the following: 3rd ANNUAL CHINA BRAND OWNERS BRUNCH - May 4, 11:00am to 2:00pm at the Nam Tin Chinese restaurant, Amsterdam. Start the 125th INTA Annual Meeting by experiencing Chinese hospitality at its finest. Hosted by LEHMAN, LEE & XU, we hope that this year's Sunday brunch will once again provide for a relaxing forum to learn more about China brand owners and discuss IP issues. If you would like to attend, please send email to inta@lehmanlaw.com or fax to +8610 8532-1999. LEHMAN, LEE & XU BOOTH - Exhibit Area, Booths V17 & V19. Visit with representatives of LEHMAN, LEE & XU and other Chinese brand owners. On display will be general literature on China trademark law, Q&As on China trademark registration, IP enforcement strategies and more. NAM TIN Chinese Restaurant Jodenbreestraat 11
1011 NG Amsterdam
Map and Directions to Nam Tin
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TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- China Gets A Passing Grade for WTO Compliance
- Japan Firms Suffer Right Infringements in China
- Rise in China IP Litigation
- Companies May Register .CN Names
- Leading Companies Make Lists
- Chinese Subway Cars to Hit Market Late This Year
China Gets A Passing Grade for WTO Compliance
According to a senior US trade official, during its first year of membership, China deserves a "passing" grade for its efforts to comply with its obligations to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Charles Freeman, Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative in charge of China affairs, said the country's performance in some areas had been abysmal, while in a few areas it was satisfactory.
Freeman's assessment came in his testimony to the East Asia subcommittee of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, during a hearing on the implications of an emerging China.
According to the newspaper report, Freeman told the committee that he would give China a passing grade as China is working on it obligations, but he would hesitate to give China any better than that.
In some areas, such as the opening of the agricultural sector to international trade, Freeman was reported to comment that 'even a basic pass grade was tenuous'.
Freeman told the hearing that agriculture was the most problematic area in terms of China's WTO compliance. Within agriculture, Freeman noted Chinese curbs on imports of biotechnical products, so-called "tariff rate quotas" that impede trade in cotton, corn and other items. Non-tariff barriers such as sanitary requirements have also been used to block imports of agricultural items such as beef, pork, citrus and wheat.
Apart from agricultural issues between the US and China, intellectual property piracy was "rampant" in China. According to Freeman, the problem was not just restricted to black-market DVDs, music CDs and software, but also extended to car parts, aeroplane brakes and "anything you can brand and find a market for".
The newspaper also reported Freeman conceding that China was aware of the situation and was intent on doing something about it. But there was a problem with enforcement caused by a lack of co-ordination between the courts in China and legislature.
Freeman said that one indication of progress was that Chinese officials now acknowledged the problem existed as compared to the past.
(Source: South China Morning Post)
Japan Firms Suffer Right Infringements in China
According to a recent business group report, more than half of Japanese companies doing business in China have complained about violations of intellectual property rights.
In a poll conducted at the end of last year by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry in China, 54.3% of the companies said that their intellectual property has been violated, a rise of 0.3% point from the year before. Of the said figure, 13.4% said they suffer serious damage from violations. The business group conducted the poll on 2,917 companies and received valid answers from 443 of them.
Of all the companies that complained about violations, 71.8% said that their trademarks were violated, while 68.5% reported violations of designs and 14.8% complained about patent infringements.
The infringements of intellectual property rights have caused the Japanese companies doing business in China losses of apparently over one trillion yen.
The group plans to shortly submit a document to the Chinese government, asking it to raise fines on companies violating intellectual property rights and strictly apply criminal penalties on them. It will also seek quicker screening of patent applications regarding advanced technology.
(Source: Jiji Press Ltd)
Rise in China IP Litigation
According to China's chief justice Xiao Yang, Chinese courts have taken on 40% more intellectual property cases over the last five years.
Over the past five years, Chinese courts closed over 23,500 intellectual property cases, which is a 40% increase to the previous five years, Xiao told Chinese news agency Xinhua.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, China has in the past few years been improving its intellectual property legal system very rapidly and efficiently.
(Source: Legal Media Group)
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Companies May Register .CN Names
Under a new approach by the Chinese governing body CNNIC, the official Chinese registry for .CN domains, the .CN domain names are now available to every business and individual worldwide. Formerly limited to residents of China, it is now no longer necessary for the registrant to have a presence in China, contacts in China, association with China or a Chinese name server.
According to the report, fewer than 175,000 domains have been registered within China to date. However, with the release of the .CN domain into the global market, China expects a rise in registrations, particularly when there is a large Chinese community around the world whom now have the opportunity to register their own domain.
With around 60 million users in China it is projected that this will become the worlds largest user base for e-commerce and online services within the next three years. Currently the number of Internet users in China is growing by over 50% yearly.
(Source: Asia Pulse)
Leading Companies Make Lists
The China News Service evaluation centre announced recently the rankings of top Chinese companies during a two-day forum on China's competitiveness.
Topping the list with their own intellectual property rights is Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies, a telecom equipment maker. The China Export Bases Development Group heads the news service's list of China's top 100 listed companies. Shunde in South China's Guangdong Province is the first of China's top 100 county-level cities, while Citigroup heads the world's top 100 companies.
At the forum, Chinese officials and experts said management techniques and technology were important in sharpening Chinese companies' competitive edge.
"Intellectual property is an important form of competitiveness," said Hu Zuochao, director of the Co-ordinating and Management Department of the State Intellectual Property Office.
Zhang Hanya, director of the Investment Studies Institute of the State Development and Reform Commission, also urged Chinese companies to be more active in applying for patents and to invest more capital in upgrading technology to improve their manufacturing level. Zhang also said China's competitiveness currently lies in its low labor costs but Chinese firms must improve their efficiency and management levels in order to compete in the next few years.
Qiu Xiaohua, vice-director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said the low competitiveness of the Chinese economy, the high unemployment rate and the slow growth of farmers' income constitute major challenges for China this year.
Private enterprises are expected to grow rapidly in the next few years but they have a very short lifespan of only 7.02 years on average, although this represents an increase from four or five years ago, said Bao Yujun, vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.
State enterprises have a low level of efficiency and are haunted by red tape, said Wu Jie, vice-chairman of the China Economic System Reform Studies Association.
(Source: China Daily)
Chinese Subway Cars to Hit Market Late This Year
Subway cars designed exclusively by China will roll off the production line and hit the market late this year.
Sources from the Beijing Subway Operations Company were quoted recently as saying that they have launched a joint venture with Beijing Subway Car Plant, Changchun Light Rail Car Co. Ltd. and Zhuzhou Times Group to research and develop electric subway cars using China's own intellectual property.
The first four trains, costing approximately RMB 5 million (US$ 602,410) and will be fitted with air- conditioning and information devices, will be applied to the subway and light rail lines in the national capital.
Currently, subways are available in Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shanghai, while a growing number of other cities such as Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province are busy constructing them. Therefore demand for subway cars will continue to rise and the market potential is good along with the fast development of urban light rail in Chinese cities. However, the country has long relied on imports for core technologies in the production of subway cars.
(Source: Xinhua News Service)
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The China Intellectual Property Law Newsletter is intended to be used for news purposes only. It should not be taken as comprehensive legal advice, and Lehman, Lee & Xu will not be held responsible for any such reliance on its contents.
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