The history of Chinese intellectual property has only progressed intermittently. During Second World War, China had no system of Patent Protection. In 1980s, it became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and started developing intellectual property laws that governed and protected the rights of Chinese inventions.
There seem to be an evolution of Chinese laws from being a petitioner to opponent in intellectual property. It is not only an economic competitor, but also an ideological competitor and thus, it is on its way to be a Power house of intellectual property.
In past decade, China has established strong system for effective IP rights, in order to bring their legal system in line with other developed countries like US and Europe.
Focus to enhance IP values in country
China is strongly focusing on its goal of 2020 for attaining a high level on creation, utilization, protection and administration of IP rights. It has been observed that China is filing a large number of patents as compared to other countries in the world.
It is also noticed that Chinese companies have been focusing on global expansion along with high-tech innovation at home, therefore, the need of robust IP protection law was felt by the Chinese Government and thus, adopted a dual track IPR protection mode incorporating administrative enforcement and judicial protection. The fourth amendment to the Patent Act, 1998 has implemented a strict protection to Patent by including imposing severe punishment to the violators and to enforce high value compensation based on market value against the violators.
It is pertinent to mention that since 2014, several tribunals and specialized IP courts have been established in China, which has been constantly training the attorneys and judges on technical cases. According to WIPO records, these courts have accepted 109,386 civil IP cases in 2015, which included more than 11,000 patent cases..
Last year in 2017, China launched 4-month campaign in US to protect foreign IP rights and businesses from infringements. People from commerce ministry, judicial bodies and Chinese government along with Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme Court, participated in the campaign to break down on the theft of trade secrets, trademark infringement, patent violations and online property rights violations.
Each department was designated with few issues as mentioned above, related to IP. For example, prosecutors investigated cases related to corruption or negligence involved in intellectual property violations; State Administration of Industry and Commerce lead the efforts to protect foreign trademarks and issues. The government is constantly undertaking measures to lure hi-tech foreign investors.
Takeaways
For the growth of a Nation, Intellectual Property (IP) plays a significant role as it not only protects the rights of an inventor for a given period but also encourages the inception of new inventions. With a vision of becoming IP Power House, China would be apparently covering the IP Rights on most of the futuristic products. It would directly boost up the economic industry that would create more employment, better GDP, and would attract most of the Giants over the globe. Other Nations must also take measures to fast track their Patent Granting Process to encourage more filings.
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