On how China has established a sound legislative system for intellectual property protection:
China is a country with a long history of civilization. The Chinese nation contains great creativity, and the splendid culture it created has had a profound impact on the course of human civilization. Over the past thousands of years, many outstanding scientists, inventors, writers, and artists in China have made great contributions to the development of human civilization with their brilliant intellectual labor.
With the development of human civilization and commodity economy, the intellectual property protection system was born, and has increasingly become a powerful legal measure for countries to protect the rights and interests of owners of intellectual achievements, promote science and technology and social and economic development, and engage in international competition. . Due to various historical reasons, overall, the construction of China's intellectual property system started relatively late. However, after the implementation of reform and opening up, in order to develop social productivity more quickly and promote overall social progress, adapt to the needs of the development of the socialist market economy, and promote integration with the world economy, China has accelerated the pace of building an intellectual property protection system. In just a dozen years from the late 1970s to the present, China has done a lot of fruitful work, gone through the legislative process that usually takes decades or even hundreds of years to complete in some developed countries, and established a relatively complete intellectual property system. Protect the legal system and have made world-renowned achievements in the legislation and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
At present, intellectual property protection has become an issue of widespread concern in international political, economic, scientific, technological and cultural exchanges. International bilateral and multilateral negotiations around this issue, especially the conclusion of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, have pushed the protection standards of intellectual property rights around the world to a new level.
Today, when the international community attaches great importance to the protection of intellectual property rights, what is China’s position on the protection of intellectual property rights? What is the current status of China’s legislation and enforcement of intellectual property rights? What measures has China taken to fulfill its international obligations for intellectual property protection? A basic introduction is necessary.
1. China’s basic position and attitude in protecting intellectual property rights
The Chinese government believes that the intellectual property protection system is important for promoting scientific and technological progress, cultural prosperity and economic development. Development is of great significance and role. It is not only an important system to ensure the normal operation of the socialist market economy, but also one of the basic environments and conditions for international scientific, technological, economic, and cultural exchanges and cooperation. China regards the protection of intellectual property rights as an important part of the reform and opening up policy and the construction of the socialist legal system. It has begun to formulate relevant laws and regulations since the late 1970s. At the same time, it has actively participated in the activities of relevant international organizations and strengthened cooperation with other countries in the field of intellectual property rights. Communication and cooperation. Therefore, the construction of China's intellectual property protection system has shown a high starting point for the world and international protection levels in the initial stage. Driven by reform and opening up, China's intellectual property legislation has been enacted at an unprecedented speed.
On March 3, 1980, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization. From June 3, 1980, China became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
On August 23, 1982, the 24th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress passed the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, and on March 1, 1983 Effective from today. This is an important sign that China has begun to systematically establish a modern intellectual property legal system.
On March 12, 1984, the Fourth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress passed the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China and came into effect on April 1, 1985. .
On December 19, 1984, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (referred to as the Paris Convention) to the World Intellectual Property Organization. From March 19, 1985, China became a member of the Paris Convention.
On April 12, 1986, the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's Congress passed the "General Principles of the People's Republic of China and Civil Law", which came into effect on January 1, 1987. . Intellectual property rights as a whole were clarified for the first time in China’s Basic Civil Law and recognized as the civil rights of citizens and legal persons. This law also clarifies for the first time that citizens, legal persons, etc. enjoy copyright (copyright).
The Chinese government actively promotes the establishment of an environment for international protection of integrated circuits.
In 1989, the World Intellectual Property Organization adopted the Treaty on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights on Integrated Circuits at the diplomatic conference held in Washington. China was one of the first signatories of the treaty.
On July 4, 1989, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the Madrid Agreement on the International Registration of Trademarks (referred to as the Madrid Agreement) to the World Intellectual Property Organization. From October 4, 1989, China became a member of the Madrid Agreement.
On September 7, 1990, the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress passed the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, which was promulgated on June 1, 1991. Effective from today.
On July 10 and July 30, 1992, the Chinese government submitted the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (referred to as the Berne Convention) to the World Intellectual Property Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization respectively. ) and the Instrument of Accession to the Universal Copyright Convention. From October 15 and October 30, 1992 respectively, China became a member of the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention.
On January 4, 1993, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Copying of Phonograms (referred to as the Phonograms Convention) to the World Intellectual Property Organization. Since April 30, 1993, China has become a member state of the Phonograms Convention.
On September 2, 1993, the third meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress passed the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China", which was promulgated in December 1993. It will come into effect on January 1st.
On September 15, 1993, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty to the World Intellectual Property Organization. From January 1, 1994, China became a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and the China Patent Office became the receiving Office, international search authority and international preliminary examination authority of the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
The above historical facts are only part of the records of China’s intellectual property legislation and participation in relevant international organization activities, which are enough to prove China’s position and attitude that attaches great importance to intellectual property protection.
The basic framework of China’s intellectual property legal system was mainly completed in the 1980s. After entering the 1990s, international economic relations and the environment have undergone great changes. In November 1990, in the multilateral trade negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Uruguay Round), a draft Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights was reached, which marked the formation of a new international standard for the protection of intellectual property rights. The Chinese government actively participated in this negotiation process and made great efforts to promote the conclusion of the agreement. Out of the need to expand opening up, China actively fulfills its international obligations to protect intellectual property rights, strives to bring the level of intellectual property protection closer to new international standards, and has taken many major measures to further improve China's current level of intellectual property protection.
The Chinese government’s sincere position in adhering to relevant international conventions and bilateral agreements on the protection of intellectual property rights and its ability to fully assume its international obligations have received widespread praise and support from international public opinion. When reviewing the organization’s 20-year history of cooperation with China, Dr. Arpad Bogsch, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, pointed out, “In the history of intellectual property, the speed with which China has accomplished all this is unique.
China adheres to the legal principle that "there are laws to be followed, laws must be followed, law enforcement must be strict, and violations must be punished." In order to better implement this principle, China is improving and improving the legal system, strictly enforcing the law, and resolutely cracking down on infringement and illegal activities. At the same time, in view of the fact that the intellectual property system has been established in China for a short time and citizens’ awareness of intellectual property is relatively weak, we have vigorously carried out legal publicity and education on intellectual property protection and accelerated the training of professionals in the field of intellectual property. The promulgation of the Ministry of Intellectual Property Law was widely publicized by radio stations, television stations, newspapers and other news media, and a large number of booklets and relevant video educational films were published. At the same time, relevant government departments at all levels held legal knowledge lectures and training courses. Intellectual property legal knowledge has been rapidly popularized among the general public. For example, after the revision of China's patent law, millions of people across the country have received training, and 600,000 people have received training across China in recent years. The increase in the number of intellectual property disputes being resolved illustrates the enhancement of the legal awareness of intellectual property rights and the popularization of intellectual property knowledge in the whole society.
In order to accelerate the cultivation of intellectual property talents, the Chinese government also cooperates closely with relevant international organizations, organizing relevant personnel to study abroad and participate in various training courses and seminars. More than 30 training courses and seminars have been held in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization alone, and more than 3,000 people have received training. Among China's higher education institutions, more than 70 institutions currently carry out intellectual property teaching and research. For example, Renmin University of China established an Intellectual Property Teaching and Research Center in 1986 to recruit university graduates not majoring in law to pursue a second degree in Intellectual Property; Peking University established the School of Intellectual Property in 1993 based on relevant teaching research. . China has gradually formed an educational system for cultivating professionals in the field of intellectual property, including second degree, master's, and doctoral students, and batches of specialized intellectual property talents are being continuously supplied to society.
2. China has a high-level legal system for the protection of intellectual property rights
With the pace of reform and opening up, China has made great progress in the protection of intellectual property rights. China has formulated and improved various intellectual property laws and regulations based on its national conditions and international development trends, and has now formed a socialist legal system for protecting intellectual property rights with Chinese characteristics. The scope and level of protection of intellectual property rights in China are gradually in line with international practices, and a high level of legal protection for intellectual property rights has been implemented.
The "Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China" and its implementation rules, which were implemented in March 1983, are in line with the international principles for application, review, registration and other aspects of the trademark registration process. The prevailing principles are completely consistent. In order to adapt to the needs of reform and opening up and the development of the economic situation, to more effectively crack down on counterfeit trademarks, stop trademark infringement, and effectively protect the exclusive right to trademark registration, China revised the Trademark Law and its implementing rules in 1993, expanding the scope of trademark registration. The scope of protection includes, in addition to commodity trademarks, provisions on the registration and management of service trademarks. A correction procedure has been added to the formal examination, and an examination opinion system has been established in the substantive examination to facilitate trademark registration applicants. This is consistent with the requirements of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights reached under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce also issued a series of regulations such as the "Trademark Printing Management Regulations" and the "Trademark License Contract Filing Management Measures". In February 1993, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress issued the "Supplementary Provisions on Punishing the Crime of Counterfeiting Registered Trademarks", which further strengthened the punishment of crimes of counterfeiting registered trademarks and punishment of trademark infringements. These laws, regulations and rules provide guarantee for the full and effective protection of the exclusive rights of Chinese and foreign registered trademarks.
The "Patent Law of the People's Republic of China" and its implementation rules, which came into effect in April 1985, have expanded the scope of China's intellectual property protection to include the protection of invention and creation patent rights. In order to further bring China's patent protection level closer to international standards, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the Amendment to the Patent Law on September 4, 1992, making important changes to the Patent Law. The newly revised Patent Law is based on the needs of expanding opening up to the outside world and conducive to science, technology and economic development. First, it expands the scope of patent protection. Patents are granted to inventions in all technical fields, whether they are products or methods, that is, for medicines and Chemical substance products, food, beverages and condiments are all patented without exception; second, the protection period of invention patents is extended from 15 years from the filing date to 20 years from the filing date, and utility model patents and design patents are The protection period is extended from 5 years from the date of application to 10 years from the date of application; third, the protection of patent rights is further strengthened. In addition to the protection of the patented method extending to the products directly obtained by the patented method, it is also clarified that It stipulates that imported patented products must obtain the consent of the patentee, making the rights and interests of the patentee more fully protected; fourth, it re-stipulates the conditions for compulsory licensing of patents. This brings China's protection of patent rights to a new level. In this way, China's patent law is basically in line with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights reached under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
The "Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China" and its implementing regulations clearly protect the copyrights of authors of literary, artistic and scientific works and their related rights and interests.
According to this law, China not only prohibits written works, oral works, music, drama, folk art, dance works, fine arts, photographic works, film, television, video works, engineering design, product design drawings and their explanations, maps, schematics and other graphic works Provide protection and include computer software within the scope of copyright protection. China is one of the few countries in the world that explicitly regards computer software as an object of copyright protection. The State Council also promulgated the "Regulations on the Protection of Computer Software", which stipulates specific implementation measures for the protection of computer software. As a supporting regulation of the Copyright Law, it came into effect in October 1991. The State Council promulgated the "Regulations on the Implementation of International Copyright Treaties" on September 25, 1992, which made specific provisions on the protection of the rights enjoyed by copyright holders of foreign works in accordance with international treaties.
In addition, the "Technology Contract Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Science and Technology Progress Law of the People's Republic of China" formulated by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, as well as a series of regulations formulated by the State Council A series of administrative regulations for the protection of intellectual property rights have further improved China's intellectual property legal system, making it closer and more coordinated with international protection levels in general.
China has complete legal measures for intellectual property protection. China's intellectual property laws stipulate legal liability for violations of legal provisions, including civil liability, administrative penalties and criminal liability.
China’s Patent Law stipulates that for patent infringement, the patentee or interested party may request the patent management agency to handle the matter, or directly file a lawsuit with the People’s Court. When the patent management agency handles the matter, it has the right to order the infringer to stop the infringement and compensate for losses. If a non-patented product or non-patented method is passed off as a patented product or method, the patent management authority shall order the counterfeiting to cease, make public corrections, and impose a fine. For serious cases of counterfeiting someone else's patent, the person directly responsible shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law, that is, the person directly responsible may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, criminal detention, or a fine.
China’s trademark laws and regulations stipulate that for infringement of the exclusive right to use a trademark, the industrial and commercial administration department may, in accordance with its authority or as reported by consumers, proactively inspect and deal with it; If the behavior is requested by the industrial and commercial administration department at or above the county level, the relevant industrial and commercial administrative department has the right to order the infringer to immediately stop the infringement and compensate the infringed party for losses; if the infringement of the exclusive right to use a trademark does not constitute a crime, the industrial and commercial administrative department shall Fines may be imposed. If the parties concerned are dissatisfied with the administrative handling of the industrial and commercial administration department, they may file a lawsuit with the People's Court within the prescribed time limit, and the court will make a judgment. These regulations facilitate the parties and ensure the consistency, fairness and seriousness of administrative law enforcement and judicial trials. For infringement of the exclusive right to use a registered trademark, the infringed party may also directly bring a lawsuit to the People's Court. If counterfeiting someone else's registered trademark constitutes a crime, in addition to compensating the infringed party's losses, criminal liability will be pursued in accordance with the law. According to the "Supplementary Provisions on Punishing the Crime of Counterfeiting Registered Trademarks", those whose illegal gains from counterfeiting registered trademarks are relatively large or have other serious circumstances shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and may be concurrently or separately fined; for illegal gains If the amount is huge, the person shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 years but not more than 7 years and shall also be fined. If an enterprise or institution commits the crime of counterfeiting a registered trademark, the unit shall be fined, and the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be held criminally responsible in accordance with the law. For state functionaries who deliberately cover up the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks or law enforcement officials who bend the law for personal gain, it is stipulated that they should be investigated for dereliction of duty.
China’s Copyright Law stipulates that for those who publish their works without the permission of the copyright owner; who publish the works created in collaboration with others as their own independently created works without the permission of the co-author; who did not participate in the creation, For the purpose of seeking personal fame and gain, signing someone else's work; distorting or tampering with other people's works; using other people's works in various ways without the permission of the copyright owner; using other people's works without paying remuneration as required; and without the permission of the performer. If a person obtains permission to perform infringements such as live broadcasting of his performances, he shall bear civil responsibilities such as stopping the infringement, eliminating the impact, publicly apologizing, and compensating for losses, depending on the circumstances.
Those who plagiarize or plagiarize other people's works; do so for the purpose of profit without the permission of the copyright owner; copy and distribute the audio and video recordings produced by them without the permission of the producers of audio and video recordings and other infringing acts shall bear civil liability according to the circumstances, and may be prosecuted by The copyright administrative department may impose administrative sanctions such as confiscation of illegal gains and fines. For infringement of copyright and copyright-related rights and interests, the parties may also directly file lawsuits in the People's Court. For those illegal acts that seriously endanger social order and infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of copyright holders and other rights holders, and if the circumstances are serious enough to constitute a crime, the perpetrators of the infringement crimes may be held criminally responsible in accordance with relevant laws.
With the implementation of China’s laws to protect intellectual property rights, intellectual property rights have been effectively protected in China, which has played a positive role in encouraging invention, creation and fair competition. For example, the protection of the exclusive right to register trademarks has prompted a rapid increase in the number of trademarks registered in China by Chinese and foreign manufacturers. By the end of 1993, there were more than 410,000 valid registered trademarks in China. Among them, there are more than 350,000 domestic registered trademarks and nearly 60,000 registered trademarks from 67 countries and regions. Taking the United States as an example, before 1979, there were only 122 trademarks registered in China. By 1993, the number reached 16,221, an increase of more than 100 times. In 1993, China's annual trademark applications reached 170,000, including more than 130,000 new trademark registration applications, ranking among the top in the world. As another example, China's patent law has greatly encouraged domestic inventions and creations, and at the same time also strongly encouraged foreign patent applications. On April 1, 1985, the first day the Patent Law came into effect, 3,455 patent applications were accepted. By the end of 1993, the China Patent Office had accepted more than 360,000 patent applications. Among them, inventions, utility models, and designs accounted for 27.5%, 62.8%, and 9.7% respectively; domestic applications accounted for 86.4%, and foreign applications accounted for 13.6%, respectively from 70 countries and regions. By the end of 1993, a total of 175,000 patents had been approved. Among them, there are more than 20,000 invention patents, more than 130,000 utility model patents, and more than 20,000 design patents.
3. China has a complete law enforcement system to protect intellectual property rights
China has not only formulated a complete set of laws and regulations on intellectual property rights, but is also serious and fair in law enforcement and has achieved remarkable results. Effectiveness.
China’s achievements in enforcing intellectual property laws and regulations are first attributable to the complete judicial and administrative channels for intellectual property protection provided in intellectual property laws.
1. Judicial channels for intellectual property protection in China In China, any citizen, legal person or other organization that enjoys intellectual property rights can file a lawsuit with the People's Court in accordance with the law when their rights are infringed and enjoy effective and effective protection of intellectual property rights in China. judicial protection.
The People's Court independently exercises judicial power in accordance with the law, obeys only the law, and is not subject to interference by any other administrative agencies, social groups or individuals.
Serious law enforcement is the core of judicial work. The people's courts conduct trials based on facts and the law, handle cases strictly in accordance with substantive and procedural laws, implement systems such as collegiality, recusal, open trials, two-instance final adjudication and trial supervision, and are subject to the laws of the people's congresses at all levels, Supervision by the People's Procuratorate and the people ensures the openness, fairness and seriousness of trial activities.
Establishing and improving the trial organization for intellectual property cases and improving the trial system are important guarantees for the people's courts to correctly hear intellectual property cases and effectively protect intellectual property rights in accordance with the law. In view of the highly professional and technical nature of hearing intellectual property cases, some provinces and municipalities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan and other higher people's courts have established intellectual property courts since 1992 based on actual needs. Property rights tribunals, various special economic zones and the Beijing and Shanghai Intermediate People's Courts have also established intellectual property tribunals. The intermediate people's courts where the people's governments of other provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government are located have set up collegial panels in the relevant tribunals specifically to hear intellectual property cases. Such centralized trial of intellectual property cases will help ensure the uniformity of law enforcement, accumulate experience, and improve the judicial level of intellectual property cases.
With the implementation of China’s intellectual property laws and the continuous strengthening of judicial protection, people’s courts at all levels have accepted and concluded a large number of intellectual property civil dispute cases in a timely manner.
According to statistics, from 1986 to the end of 1993, the People's Courts across the country accepted 3,505 intellectual property civil dispute cases, including 1,168 copyright cases; 1,783 patent rights cases; and 554 trademark rights cases. The People's Court has protected the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign intellectual property owners in accordance with the law through the trial of intellectual property dispute cases. For example, the inventor of the invention patent for "Borehole Pressure Drop Piling Method" sued the Beijing Metro Foundation Engineering Company over a dispute over the ownership of the invention patent. The Beijing Higher People's Court held that the invention was not a service invention under the Patent Law, and ruled that the invention patent right for the "Borehole Pressure Reduction Pile Method" belongs to the inventor. Another example is the case of Hong Kong Sandon International Co., Ltd. v. Shenzhen Huada Electronics Co., Ltd. over trademark infringement. The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court held that the "SENDON" trademark applied for registration by the plaintiff in mainland China was protected by law; the defendant's use of the "SENDON" trademark on the same product without the permission of the trademark registrant constituted an infringement of the exclusive right to register a trademark. The defendant was ordered to compensate the plaintiff 468,314.4 yuan.
Intellectual property rights are an important civil right. For civil infringements, in addition to ordering the infringer to stop the infringement, eliminate the impact, apologize, compensate for losses, etc. Necessary sanctions such as confiscation of illegal gains, fines, and detention will be imposed on the perpetrators.
Those who infringe others' intellectual property rights in serious cases, disrupt economic order, and constitute crimes may also be held criminally responsible in accordance with the law. For intellectual property criminal cases prosecuted by the procuratorate in accordance with the law, as long as there is sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant counterfeited other people's trademarks or patents, and the circumstances are serious and constitute a crime, the People's Court will strictly follow the legal provisions and promptly and accurately punish the defendant. According to statistics, from 1992 to 1993, the people's courts accepted 743 criminal cases of trademark counterfeiting, concluded 731 cases, and sentenced 566 people to fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention. In addition to fines in accordance with the law, the People's Court of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province sentenced the five persons responsible for counterfeiting the "MOBIL" trademark of the American Mobil Oil Company to one to two and a half years in prison. This fully demonstrates the Chinese People’s Court’s firm stance on punishing crimes in accordance with the law and protecting intellectual property rights.
According to China's Administrative Litigation Law, the people's courts have the responsibility to hear administrative lawsuits filed by citizens, legal persons and other organizations due to dissatisfaction with the decisions of intellectual property administrative agencies on intellectual property disputes, and make upholding and upholding decisions in accordance with the law. Judgment to revoke or modify an administrative decision.
The People's Court hears foreign-related intellectual property disputes in accordance with Chinese laws and relevant international conventions that China has joined or concluded, adheres to the principle of national treatment and the principle of reciprocity in the application of law, and promotes international economic, technological and cultural exchanges. and cooperation, providing solid legal protection. The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court concluded the trademark infringement dispute case between Houghton Company of the United States and Shenzhen Hailian Chemical Co., Ltd. After ascertaining the defendant's infringement facts and confirming its liability for infringement, the two parties reached an agreement after mediation. According to the mediation agreement, the defendant immediately stopped the infringement, publicly apologized to the plaintiff, and compensated the plaintiff for economic losses of 130,000 yuan. At the same time, the court also issued a civil sanction decision of fine for the defendant's illegal behavior. The case took only 10 days from acceptance to conclusion, which was well received by the American parties. The American company Houghton sent a banner to the court that read "China's laws are fair and judges handle cases quickly."
In recent years, the People's Court has taken many effective measures to improve judicial standards, which has led to rapid improvements in the quality and efficiency of case handling. In order to expand the impact of case handling, the People's Court pays attention to selecting typical cases to publicize and report through the news media, and uses cases to explain the law, which has achieved obvious social effects and maintained the dignity of the socialist legal system.
2. China’s administrative approach to intellectual property protection. China’s intellectual property protection system, in addition to adopting judicial approaches in accordance with international practice, is based on China’s actual national conditions. China’s patent law, trademark law, copyright law, etc. Intellectual property laws stipulate administrative channels for intellectual property protection.
According to the provisions of the Patent Law, the relevant competent departments of the State Council or local people's governments may establish patent management agencies. At present, there are more than 50 patent management agencies established by local governments in China, and more than 20 patent management agencies established by various departments of the State Council. According to the provisions of the Copyright Law, the National Copyright Administration and local copyright administration agencies have been established.
Trademark management follows the principle of central unified registration and local hierarchical management. From the central to the industrial and commercial administration bureaus at the provincial, municipal, prefectural and county levels, there are internal trademark management agencies, and there are also industrial and commercial administrative offices below the county level. There are more than 7,000 full-time trademark management personnel nationwide and 300,000 part-time workers.
China’s intellectual property administrative agencies, in accordance with their duties and responsibilities as prescribed by law, maintain intellectual property rights and legal order, encourage fair competition, mediate disputes, investigate and deal with intellectual property infringement cases, and protect the interests of the broad masses of the people and a good society. economic environment.
China’s administrative enforcement procedures for intellectual property rights are simple, rapid case filing, fast investigation and handling, and high case handling efficiency. This is extremely beneficial to rights holders. China's patent administration authorities take all patent infringement complaints seriously and handle them promptly and in accordance with the law.
After the Copyright Law came into effect in June 1991, by the end of 1993, local copyright administration agencies in China had investigated and dealt with more than 150 cases of illegal duplication of audio and video products, illegal duplication of books, etc., and seized and destroyed them. Infringing copies were found and administrative penalties were imposed on the infringers. In 1994, the Chinese government organized relevant departments to severely crack down on illegal copying in laser disc duplication production and illegal copying in book publishing. In April, the copyright, culture, radio, film and television, industrial and commercial administration, public security and other departments of Guangdong Province jointly organized a large-scale raid on illegal laser discs and other audio and video products. Subsequently, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hunan and other places also successively carried out similar inspection actions. These actions have severely cracked down on the production and sale of pirated products. At the same time, relevant departments of the Chinese government have taken measures to strengthen the management of the establishment of laser disc production and processing enterprises and supervise their production and processing activities in accordance with the law.
In the more than 10 years since China’s Trademark Law was implemented, the industrial and commercial administration authorities have investigated and dealt with 130,000 cases of trademark infringement and counterfeiting. Among them, there are a large number of major cases, such as "Zhonghua" cigarettes, "Forever", "Phoenix", "Fei Ge" bicycles, "Kweichow Moutai" liquor, "Xinkaihe" ginseng and other trademark infringement and counterfeiting cases, which effectively protected the The legitimate rights and interests of the trademark registrant.
In accordance with Chinese laws and relevant international conventions that China has joined or concluded, China's intellectual property administrative agencies adhere to the principle of national treatment and the principle of reciprocity in the application of law, and protect the intellectual property rights of foreigners in accordance with the law. For example, the Zhejiang Provincial Patent Administration Bureau fairly handled a fire-making patent infringement case brought by a foreigner and ordered the manufacturer to stop the infringement and compensate for losses. The National Copyright Administration investigated and dealt with the case of more than a dozen arts and crafts factories in Fujian, Guangdong and other places imitating the toy designs of foreign companies, and the case of an electronics industry company in Jiangsu reproducing laser discs. The industrial and commercial administration authorities investigated and punished 3,000 companies such as "TDK", "TOSHIBA", "SONY", "IBM", "3M", "ESSO", "P&G", "Head & Shoulders", "Little Genius", "Philips", etc. Several foreign-related trademark infringement cases.
Among the foreign-related intellectual property infringement cases handled by China’s intellectual property administrative agencies, a large proportion of cases are proactively investigated and dealt with in accordance with their authority. China's industrial and commercial administration authorities are responsible for maintaining economic order and can proactively inspect the market, effectively protecting the rights and interests of trademark registrants. For example, the industrial and commercial administration agencies at all levels in Guangdong Province have investigated and dealt with 301 U.S.-related infringement cases since 1988. Of the 301 trademark infringement cases, one-third were complained by U.S. parties, and most were discovered by industrial and commercial administration authorities during market inspections or reported by consumers. Intellectual property administrative agencies enforce the law impartially and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of intellectual property owners, winning praise from many foreign-funded or Sino-foreign joint ventures. They will embroider (engrav) the banners and gold with the words "Integrity in government, law enforcement like a mountain", "Enforcement impartially, upholding the right and eradicating evil", Handling impartially, protecting and escorting", "Justice and strictness, counterfeiting nemesis", "Strict enforcement of law, selfless". Plaques were presented to China's industrial and commercial administration agencies, praising the case handlers for their "serious work and courageous actions" and "fast handling of cases."