Everything you wanted to know about IP in China but were too afraid to ask

CBI members in Beijing gathered yesterday to receive the annual IP briefing from a renewed IP network stretching across Beijing and Shanghai. Members also received a briefing from the visiting Deputy Director for International Policy from the Intellectual Policy Office (IPO), outlining how the IPO was adapting its strategy to handle the imminent changes in IP protection companies will face as a result of the UK leaving the European Union, as well as where the IPO sees opportunity to work with China on improving its own domestic IP strategy.

Speaking on the subject of IP protection in China, the following issues were identified as the main IP concerns for British business in China:

• Age and pace of Chinese system – China’s IP system has developed incredibly fast, with the first piece of IP law having been introduced in 1983. As a result, the Chinese government is both under pressure and very ambitious when it comes to introducing IP reforms. That presents a challenge for foreign businesses when it comes to keeping up with changes to China’s IP system and the reasoning behind those changes.
• Chinese IP system has been designed with Chinese companies in mind. Currently, only 1% of IP-related Chinese civil court cases involve foreign parties, while 85% of TM applications are made by Chinese companies
• That means that the Chinese IP system is under growing pressure to mature and cater to foreign companies as China ‘goes global.’ Members were then invited to provide inputs on technical IP issues, such as bad faith trademarks, patent law, e-commerce and copyright law. While discussing these specific areas in detail, several key trends emerged:

• The Chinese government is very good at introducing reforms and new regulations to clamp down on IP infringement. Where it is not so good however, is implementing these laws and punishing companies found to be infringing on another’s intellectual property
• The existing methods for punishing companies found to be infringing on another’s intellectual property are insufficiently punitive.
• Chinese companies are highly adept at finding ways around new and existing regulation, and see doing so as a way of guaranteeing a competitive edge over rivals.
• Existing legislation lacks the maturity to cater to foreign companies, who are used to dealing with systems of greater sophistication. This presents itself as a market access barrier as it makes it difficult to invest in collaboration with Chinese partners with the confidence that any transferred technology will be sufficiently protected in China.

 

For more information regarding IP and introductions to the UK Embassy's IP team please contact the CBI's Beijing office:

E: [email protected] Tel: 010 85253100

Thank You.