What are the laws and regulations on intellectual property rights in China? What year were they enacted?

Status of Intellectual Property Protection in China (1994/06/01)

Enacted by the Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

Enactment Date 19940601

Implementation Date 19940601

Preface

China is a country with a long history of civilization. The Chinese nation harbors great creativity

and the splendid culture she has created has had a profound impact on the course of human civilization. Over the past thousands of years, many outstanding scientists, inventors, literati, and artists have made great contributions to the development of human civilization with their brilliant intellectual work

.

Along with the development of human civilization and commodity economy, the intellectual property protection system was born, and has increasingly

become a powerful legal measure to protect the rights and interests of the owners of intellectual achievements, to promote scientific and technological and socio-economic development, and to engage in

international competition. Due to various historical reasons, on the whole, the construction of China's

intellectual property system started late. However, after the implementation of reform and opening up, in order to develop

social productive forces more quickly and promote the overall progress of society, to meet the needs of the development of the socialist market economy, and to promote

integration with the world economy, China has accelerated the pace of the construction of the intellectual property protection system. From the end of the 1970s to the present, China has done a lot of fruitful work in the short span of a decade or so, and has gone through a legislative journey that usually takes decades or even hundreds of years to complete in some

developed countries, and established a

comprehensive legal system for the protection of intellectual property rights, and made

impressive achievements in the legislation and enforcement of intellectual property rights. In terms of legislation and enforcement of intellectual property rights, we have made achievements that have attracted the world's attention.

Currently, the protection of intellectual property rights has become an issue of universal concern in international political, economic, scientific and technological, and cultural exchanges. The international bilateral and multilateral negotiations on 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 (GATT), have brought the protection of intellectual property rights around the world to a new level.

With the international community attaching 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 IPR legislation and enforcement? What measures has China taken to undertake its international obligations for the protection of intellectual

property rights? It is necessary to make a basic introduction.

I. China's Basic Position and Attitude on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

The Chinese government believes that the system of intellectual property rights protection is of great significance and importance to the promotion of scientific and technological progress, cultural prosperity and economic development, and that it is not only an important system to ensure the normal operation of the socialist market economy, but also a basic framework for the development of international scientific and technological and economic exchanges and cooperation, It is not only an important system to ensure the normal operation of the socialist market economy, but also one of the basic conditions for international scientific, technological, economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation. China has taken the protection of intellectual property rights as an important part of its reform and opening-up policy and the construction of the socialist legal system

, and has started to formulate relevant laws and regulations since the end of the 1970s, and has also actively participated in the activities of the relevant international organizations, and has strengthened exchanges and cooperation with other countries around the world in the field of intellectual property rights

. As a result, the construction of China's intellectual property protection system has shown a high starting point for the world and

for the international protection level at the initial stage. Under the impetus of reform and opening up, the speed of China's intellectual property legislation

is also unprecedented.

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 WIPO.

On August 23, 1982, the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress passed the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into force on March 1, 1983 at its 24th meeting. This is an important symbol that China

began to systematically establish a modern legal system for intellectual property rights.

On March 12, 1984, the Fourth Session of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress adopted the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect on April 1, 1985, and was followed by the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China.

On December 19, 1984, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

(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 adopted the General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China

Ministry*** and the State of China, which came into effect on January 1, 1987, and the General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect on January 1, 1987, were adopted. For the first time, intellectual property rights as a whole

were specified in China's basic civil law and recognized as the civil rights of citizens and legal persons

. The law also clarifies for the first time that citizens and legal persons are entitled to copyright.

The Chinese government has actively promoted the establishment of an environment for the international protection of integrated circuits.

The Treaty on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights in Respect of Integrated Circuits

was adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at its Diplomatic Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1989, and China was one of the first signatories to the treaty.

On July 4, 1989, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Agreement) to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 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 came into effect on June 1, 1991.

Chinese copyright law was adopted by the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on September 7, 1990, which was adopted by the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress.

On July 10 and July 30, 1992, the Chinese Government submitted its instruments of accession to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (the

Berne Convention) and to the Universal Copyright Convention to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the United

Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) respectively. As of 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 Duplication of Their Phonograms (Phonograms Convention) to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

. As of April 30, 1993, China became a member of the Phonograms Convention.

On September 2, 1993, the Third Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress adopted

the Law of the People's Republic of China on Combating Unfair Competition.

On September 15, 1993, the Chinese government submitted its instrument of accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty

to the World Intellectual Property Organization. Since January 1, 1994, China has become a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and the China Patent

Office has become an accepting office, an international search unit and an international preliminary examination unit of the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

The above historical facts are only part of the record of China's intellectual property legislation and its participation in the activities of the relevant international organizations

, which are sufficient to prove China's position and attitude of attaching great importance to intellectual property protection.

The basic framework of China's IPR legal system was mainly completed in the 1980s. After entering the 1990s

generation, the international economic relations and environment have changed a lot.

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 (TRIPS)

was reached, which marked the formation of new international standards 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 this agreement. Out of the need to

expand its opening up, China has actively fulfilled its international obligations to protect intellectual property rights, strived to bring the level of intellectual property

rights protection closer to the new international standard, and taken many significant measures to further improve China's

existing level of intellectual property protection.

The Chinese government's sincere stance to abide by international conventions and bilateral agreements on intellectual property protection and its ability to fully

take on its international obligations have been widely praised and supported by international public opinion. Dr. Arpad Boghossian, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), recalling the organization's 20-year history of cooperation with China,

noted that "in the history of intellectual property rights, the speed with which China has accomplished all of this is unique".

China adheres to the principle of the rule of law that "there is a law to follow, the law must be followed, law enforcement must be strict, and violations of the law must be investigated. In order to better carry out this principle, China, while improving and perfecting its legal system, enforcing the law seriously, and firmly combating infringement of rights and violations of the law, has vigorously carried out legal propaganda and education on the protection of intellectual property rights and accelerated the training of professionals in the field of intellectual property rights, in view of the relatively short period of time since the establishment of the intellectual property system in China and the weak intellectual property rights awareness of its citizens.


China has been implementing the principle of the rule of law in order to better implement this principle. training of professionals in the field of intellectual property. In China, the promulgation of every intellectual property law has been widely publicized by news media such as radio, television and newspapers, and a large number of single-volume books and relevant video educational films have been published. At the same time, the relevant departments at all levels of government have rapidly popularized the knowledge of intellectual property laws among citizens by organizing lectures and training courses on legal knowledge

. For example, after the revision of China's

patent law, millions of people have received training nationwide, and the number of people trained in Hunan Province alone

has reached 600,000 people. All over China, the phenomenon of using legal weapons to solve intellectual property disputes has increased in recent years

, which from one side shows the enhancement of legal awareness of intellectual property rights and the popularization of knowledge of intellectual property rights in the whole society

. In order to accelerate the cultivation of intellectual property talents, the Chinese Government has also cooperated closely with relevant international organizations, organizing overseas study tours and attending various training courses and seminars. The number of training courses and seminars organized in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) alone has reached more than 30, with more than 3,000 people receiving training. Among China's institutions of higher learning, more than 70 have now carried out teaching and research on intellectual property

rights. For example, Renmin University of China set up an Intellectual Property Teaching and Research Center in 1986, recruiting graduates of non-law majors to study for a second degree in intellectual property; Peking University set up an Intellectual Property College in 1993 on the basis of the teaching and research on intellectual property. China has gradually formed

an educational system for training professionals in the field of intellectual property, including second degrees, master's degrees and doctoral degrees

. A batch of specialized talents in intellectual property is being continuously delivered to the society.

II. China has a high-level legal system for the protection of intellectual property rights

Along 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 laws and regulations on intellectual property in accordance with national conditions and international development trends, and has now formed a socialist legal system for the protection of intellectual property with Chinese characteristics. The scope and level of protection of intellectual property rights in China have gradually been brought into line with international practice, and a high level of legal protection of intellectual property rights has been implemented.

The Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect in March 1983, and its implementing rules, are fully consistent with the internationally accepted principles in the application, examination and registration of trademarks. In order to meet the needs of reform and opening up and the development of economic situation, to more effectively combat

counterfeiting of trademarks, to stop trademark infringement, and to effectively protect the exclusive right to register trademarks, China amended the Trademark Law and its Implementing Rules in 1993, expanding the scope of protection of trademarks, and in addition to the trademarks of commercial

goods, increasing the registration of service trademarks and the management of the provisions. The provisions of the Law have been expanded. In the formal examination, the supplementary

procedure was added, and in the substantive examination, a system of examination opinions was established to facilitate the applicants for trademark registration, which

coincides with all the requirements of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) also issued a series of regulations, such as the Provisions on the Administration of Trademark Printing and the Measures for the Administration of Trademark License Contracts and Licenses, etc. In February 1993, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) made the Supplementary Provisions on the Punishment of Crimes of Counterfeiting of Registered Trademarks, which further strengthened the efforts in the punishment of crimes of counterfeit registered trademarks and the punishment of trademark infringing acts. trademark infringement. These laws, regulations and rules provide safeguards for the full and effective protection of the exclusive right to use Chinese and foreign registered trademarks.

The Patent Law of the People's Republic of China*** and its Implementing Rules, which came into effect in April 1985, extended the scope of intellectual property protection in China

to the protection of patent rights for inventions and creations. In order to bring the level of China's patent

protection further closer to international standards, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed an amendment to the Patent Law on September 4, 1992

, which made important changes to the Patent Law. The newly amended Patent

Law, starting from the need to expand the opening up to the outside world and to facilitate scientific and technological as well as economic development, firstly, enlarges the scope of protection of patents, which is granted to inventions in all fields of technology, regardless of whether it is a product or a method, i.e., patents are granted to pharmaceuticals and chemical products, and to food, beverages and condiments, without any exceptions. The second is to extend the term of protection for invention patents from 15 years from the date of application to 20 years from the date of application

, and the term of protection for utility model patents and design patents from 5 years from the date of application to 10 years from the date of application; the third is to further strengthen the protection of the patent right, in addition to the extension of the protection of the patented method to the products obtained by the patented method directly, it is also clearly stipulated that the patent right shall be granted to the products obtained by the patented method without exception. In addition to the extension of the protection of the patented method to the products obtained directly from the patented method, it is also explicitly stipulated that the importation of the patented products must have the consent of the patentee, which makes the protection of the rights and interests of the patentee more adequate; Fourthly, the conditions for the implementation of the compulsory licensing of patents have been re-established. This has brought the protection of patent rights in China 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 (TRIPS Agreement) reached under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

The Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China and its implementing regulations clearly protect the copyright of authors of literary, artistic

and scientific works and the rights and interests associated with them. Under the Law, China not only protects graphic works such as literary

character works, oral works, music, drama, opera, and dance works, fine arts and photographic works, film, television, and video works, engineering and product design drawings and their descriptions, and maps and schematic drawings

but also includes computer software in the scope of copyright protection. China is one of the few countries in the world

that explicitly treats computer software as an object of copyright protection.

The State Council also promulgated the Regulations on the Protection of Computer Software, which stipulates the specific implementation methods for the protection of computer software, and came into force in October 1991 as a complementary regulation to the Copyright Law. On September 25, 1992, the State Council promulgated the Provisions on the Implementation of International Copyright Treaties, which made specific provisions on the protection of the rights enjoyed by the copyright holders of foreign works

according to international treaties.

In addition, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Technological Cooperation and the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Advancement of Science and Technology, as well as a series of administrative laws and regulations on the protection of intellectual property rights formulated by the State Council, have further improved China's intellectual property rights system, and made it closer and more harmonized with the international level of protection on the whole.

In addition to these, China has also promulgated the Provisions on the Implementation of International Copyright Treaties on 25 September, which make specific provisions on the protection of the rights of copyright holders of foreign works in accordance with international treaties. international level of protection.

China has complete legal measures for the protection of intellectual property rights. China's intellectual property laws stipulate

legal liabilities for violations of the laws, including civil liabilities, administrative penalties and criminal

liabilities.

China's patent law provides that for patent infringement, the patentee or interested party may

request the patent administration authority to handle the case, or may directly file a lawsuit with the people's court. The patent administration authorities

have the right to order the infringer to stop the infringing behavior and compensate for the damages. For those who pass off a non-patented product or non-patented method as a patented product or patented method, the patent administration authority shall order the stopping of the counterfeiting

act, make a public correction, and impose a fine. If the circumstances of counterfeiting others' patents are serious, the directly

responsible persons shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law, i.e., the directly responsible persons may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, criminal detention, or fines.

China's trademark laws and regulations provide that, for infringement of the exclusive right to use a trademark, the administrative department for industry and commerce

may, on its own authority or on the basis of consumer reports, carry out proactive inspections and deal with the infringer; the infringed person may request the administrative department for industry and commerce at or above the county level of the place where the infringer or infringing act is committed to deal with the infringement, and the relevant administrative department for industry and commerce has the right to order the infringer to immediately stop the infringing act, and to order the infringer to stop the infringement. has the right to order the infringer to immediately stop the infringing behavior, compensation for the infringed person's loss

loss; for infringement of the exclusive right to use trademarks, which does not constitute a crime, the administration for industry and commerce may impose a fine

. The parties to the administration for industry and commerce administrative department of the administrative treatment of dissatisfaction, can be within the prescribed time limit to the People's

court, the court to make a judgment. These provisions, the convenience of the parties, but also to ensure the consistency, fairness and seriousness of administrative

law enforcement and judicial trial. For infringement of the exclusive right to use registered trademarks,

the infringed person can also directly to the people's court. For counterfeiting others' registered trademarks, which constitutes a crime

, in addition to compensating the infringed person's losses, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law. According to the Supplementary Provisions on Punishing Crimes of Counterfeiting

Registered Trademarks, if the amount of illegal proceeds from counterfeiting a registered trademark is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years or criminal detention, and may be concurrently or individually sentenced to a

fine; and if the amount of illegal proceeds is huge, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 3 but not more than 7 years, and shall be sentenced to a fine

. For an enterprise or institution that commits the crime of counterfeiting a registered trademark, the unit shall be sentenced to a fine, and the directly responsible

supervisors and other directly responsible persons shall be held criminally liable in accordance with the law. For state officials

who intentionally harbor the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks or law enforcement officials who bend the law for their own interests, it is stipulated that they shall be prosecuted for the crime of dereliction of duty.

China's Copyright Law stipulates that anyone who publishes his or her work without the permission of the copyright owner; anyone who publishes a work created in cooperation with another person as his or her own work without the permission of the co-author; anyone who, without taking part in the creation of the work, signs the name of another person's work for the purpose of personal gain or fame; anyone who distorts or falsifies another person's work; or anyone who, without the permission of the copyright owner, uses any form of copyrighted material in any way to infringe upon the copyright owner's rights. If a copyright holder uses his/her work in various ways without his/her permission; if he/she uses another person's work without

paying the required remuneration; and if he/she broadcasts his/her performance from the scene without the performer's permission, he/she shall be held liable for stopping the infringement, removing the influence, making a public apology, compensating for the loss, and other civil liabilities, depending on the circumstances

. Anyone who plagiarizes or copies another person's work, reproduces or distributes his/her work for profit without the permission of the copyright owner, publishes a book in which another person enjoys the exclusive right of publication, or reproduces or distributes a sound recording or video recording made by a producer of sound recordings or video recordings without the permission of the producer of the recording or video recording, etc., shall be subject to civil liability according to the circumstances and may be sentenced to confiscation of unlawful gains and fines by the administrative department of copyright administration. The administrative department of copyright may also impose administrative penalties such as confiscation of illegal gains and fines

. For infringement of copyright and copyright-related rights and interests, the parties concerned may also

take their cases directly to the people's courts. For those violations that seriously jeopardize the social order and infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of copyright holders and other

rights holders, and where the circumstances are serious enough to constitute a crime, the perpetrators of the infringement crime can be held criminally liable in accordance with the relevant laws,

.

With the implementation of China's laws on the protection of intellectual property rights, intellectual property rights have been effectively protected in China

and have played a positive role in encouraging inventions and creations as well as fair competition. For example, the protection of the exclusive right to register trademarks

has led to 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 validly registered trademarks in China. Among them, there were 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,

only 122 trademarks were registered in China, which reached 16,221 in 1993, an increase of more than 100 times.199

The annual number of trademark applications in China in 2003 amounted to 170,000, of which more than 130,000 were applications for new trademark registrations, which has jumped to the forefront of the

world. Another example is that China's patent law greatly encourages domestic inventions and creations, and at the same time

powerfully encourages foreign patent applications. on April 1, 1985, the first day of the implementation of the Patent Law, 3,455 patent

applications were accepted. By the end of 1993, the China Patent Office had received more than 360,000 patent applications. Among them,

the 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%, from 70 countries and regions. By the end of 1993,

a total of 175,000 patents had been granted. Among them, more than 20,000 are invention patents, more than 130,000 are utility model patents

and more than 20,000 are design patents.

Three: 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.

China's success in enforcing intellectual property laws and regulations can be attributed, first of all, to the fact that intellectual property

rights laws have provided for a complete set of judicial channels for intellectual property protection and administrative channels for intellectual property protection

.

1, China's intellectual property rights protection of judicial channels

In China, enjoy intellectual property rights of any citizen, legal person and other organizations, in their rights are

infringed, can be in accordance with the people's court lawsuits, enjoy effective judicial protection.

The people's courts exercise judicial power independently in accordance with the law, subject only to the law and free from interference by any other administrative organs

, social organizations or individuals.

Serious law enforcement is the core of judicial work. The people's courts conduct their trial activities on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, handling cases in strict accordance with substantive and procedural laws, practicing systems of collegiality, recusal, public

open trials, two trials and trial supervision, and are subject to the supervision of people's congresses at all levels, people's procuratorates and the people's masses in accordance with the law, so as to ensure that their trial activities are open, fair and serious. seriousness of trial activities.

Establishing a sound organization for adjudicating intellectual property cases and improving the adjudication system are important safeguards for the people's courts to correctly adjudicate intellectual property cases and protect intellectual property rights in accordance with the law. In view of the specialized and highly technical nature of intellectual property cases, some provinces and municipalities directly under the central government, such as Beijing Municipality, Shanghai Municipality, Guangdong Province, Fujian Province, Hainan Province, and other high people's courts have set up intellectual property tribunals in accordance with the actual needs of the courts since 1992, and the special economic zones, as well as the Beijing Municipality and Shanghai Municipality Intermediate People's Courts have also set up intellectual property tribunals to adjudicate intellectual property cases. >

Also set up intellectual property trial courts. The intermediate

level people's courts of other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government have set up collegiate courts specializing in intellectual property cases in the relevant trial courts. This

centralized trial of intellectual property cases is conducive to ensuring uniformity in law enforcement, accumulating experience, and raising

the judicial level of intellectual property cases.

With the implementation of China's intellectual property laws and the strengthening of judicial protection, the people's courts at all levels

have accepted and promptly concluded a large number of intellectual property civil dispute cases. According to statistics, from 1986 to the end of 1993, the People's Courts nationwide accepted 3,505 civil disputes over intellectual property rights, of which 1,168 were copyright cases; 1,783 were patent cases; and 554 were trademark cases. The people's courts have protected the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese and foreign intellectual property rights owners through the adjudication of intellectual property disputes

in accordance with the law. For example, the inventor of the patent for the invention of "drilling

hole pressure drop piling method" v. Beijing Metro Foundation Engineering Company, a case of dispute over the patent rights of the invention. The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court held that the invention did not fall under the provisions of the Patent Law, and ruled that the patent for the "Borehole Pressure Drop Pile Formation Method" belonged to the inventor. Another example is the case of Xiang

Hong Kong Sanden International Co. v. Shenzhen Huada Electronics Co. The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court held that the trademark "SENDON" applied for registration by the plaintiff in mainland China

was protected by law; the defendant, without the permission of the trademark registrant, used the trademark "SENDON" on the same kind of commodities, and that the defendant's use of "SENDON" on the same kind of commodities was not authorized by the trademark registrant.

The use of the trademark "SENDON" on the same goods without the permission of the trademark registrant constitutes an infringement of the exclusive right to use the registered trademark. The defendant was ordered to compensate the plaintiff 468,314.4 Yuan.

Intellectual property is an important civil right, for civil infringement, the people's court may

in addition to ordering the infringer to bear the civil

responsibility of stopping the infringement, eliminating the influence, apologizing and compensating for the loss, etc., the people's court may also impose the necessary confiscation of illegal gains, fines, detention and other sanctions

on the perpetrator according to the law.

For those who infringe on the intellectual property rights of others in a serious manner, disrupt the economic order and constitute a crime, also

can be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law. For criminal intellectual property rights cases prosecuted by the procuratorial organs in accordance with the law,

as long as there is sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant has counterfeited another person's trademarks or patents, the circumstances are serious,

constituting a crime, the people's courts strictly in accordance with the law, and promptly and accurately punished. 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 detention and other criminal punishments. The Zhongshan City People's Court of Guangdong Province sentenced the five persons responsible for counterfeiting the "MOBIL" trademark of Mobil Oil Corporation of the United States of America

to fixed-term imprisonment of one to two and a half years, in addition to fines according to the law. This fully demonstrates the firm stance of the Chinese People's Court in punishing crimes and protecting intellectual property rights in accordance with the law.

According to China's Administrative Litigation Law, the people's courts have the responsibility to conduct

trials on administrative lawsuits filed by citizens, legal persons and other organizations against decisions on intellectual property disputes handled by intellectual property

property rights administrative organs, and to make judgments to uphold, revoke or change the administrative decisions in accordance with the law.

The people's courts adjudicate foreign-related intellectual property disputes on the basis of Chinese laws and the relevant international conventions to which China has acceded or concluded,

and adhere to the principles of national treatment and reciprocity in the application of laws, which provide a solid legal guarantee for the promotion of international

economic, technological and cultural exchanges and cooperation. The Shenzhen Intermediate People's

Court concluded the case of the trademark infringement dispute between the U.S. Good Fulton Company v. Shenzhen Hai Lian Chemical Co.

Compensation for its economic loss of 130,000 yuan. At the same time, the court also made a civil

sanction decision on the defendant's illegal behavior of fines, the case from the acceptance to the conclusion of the case in only 10 days, by the U.S. parties to the praise.

The U.S. company sent a banner to the court with the words "China's laws are fair, and the judge handled the case quickly".

The court also issued a fine to the defendant for violating the law.

In recent years, the people's courts have taken many strong measures to improve the level of justice, so that the quality and efficiency of case handling

have been rapidly improved. In order to expand the impact of the case, the people's courts pay attention to the selection of model

type cases through the media to be publicized and reported on the case of the law, achieved significant social effects,

maintained the dignity of the socialist legal system.

2, China's intellectual property rights protection of administrative ways

China's intellectual property rights protection system, in addition to international practice to take the judicial way, from China's current

actual national conditions, China's Patent Law, Trademark Law, Copyright Law and other intellectual property rights law

provides for the protection of intellectual property rights of the administrative way.

According to the provisions of the Patent Law, the relevant competent department of the State Council or the local people's government may set up a specialized

property administration organ. At present, there are more than 50 patent administration organs set up locally in China, and more than 20 patent administration organs set up by ministries

under the State Council. In accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Law, the State Copyright

Bureau and local copyright administrative organs have been established. Trademark administration is based on the principle of unified registration by the central government and hierarchical management at the local level, with trademark administration organizations set up within the Administration for Industry and Commerce from the central government to the provincial, municipal, local and county levels, and with industry and commerce administration offices below the county level. There are more than 7,000 full-time trademark management personnel nationwide,

and 300,000 part-time personnel.

China's intellectual property administrative organs maintain the legal

order of intellectual property rights, encourage fair competition, mediate disputes, investigate and handle cases of intellectual property infringement, and safeguard the interests of the general public and a favorable socio-economic environment, in accordance with their powers and functions as stipulated by law.

China's administrative enforcement of intellectual property rights has simple procedures, rapid filing of cases, fast investigation and handling, and high efficiency in handling cases

. This is extremely favorable to the right owners. China's patent administration authorities take complaints of patent

infringement seriously and deal with them in a timely manner in accordance with the law.

After the Copyright Law came into force in June 1991, by the end of 1993, China's local copyright administrative authorities had investigated and dealt with more than 150 infringing acts of illegal copying of audio-visual products, illegal copying of books, etc., seized and destroyed the infringing copies, and imposed administrative penalties on the infringers. 1994, the Chinese

government organized the relevant departments to investigate the infringement of laser phonograms, which was the first time the Chinese government had ever investigated a laser phonogram.

The government organized the relevant departments to crack down on illegal copying in the production of laser disc duplicates and illegal

copying in book publishing. in April, Guangdong Province's copyright, culture, broadcasting, film and television, industry and commerce administration

and public security departments jointly organized a large-scale blitz raid to clear out the illegal laser discs and other audio-visual products

. Subsequently, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hunan and other places have also taken similar actions. These actions

have dealt a severe blow to the production and sale of pirated products. At the same time, the relevant departments of the Chinese government have taken measures to

strengthen the management of the establishment of enterprises manufacturing and processing laser discs, and supervise their production and processing activities in accordance with the law

.

China's Trademark Law has been in force for more than 10 years, and industrial and commercial administrative organs*** have investigated and dealt with 130,000 cases of trademark infringement and counterfeiting

. Among them, there are a large number of big cases, such as "Zhonghua" cigarettes, "Permanent", "Phoenix

" and "Flying Pigeon" bicycles, "Flying Pigeon" bicycles, and "Flying Pigeon" bicycles.

The cases of trademark infringement and counterfeiting, such as "Zhonghua" cigarettes, "Permanent", "Phoenix", "Flying Pigeon" bicycles, "Guizhou Moutai" wines, and "Xinkaihe" ginseng, have effectively protected the lawful rights and interests of trademark registrants.

China's intellectual property administrative authorities protect the intellectual property rights of foreigners

in accordance with Chinese laws and the relevant

international conventions to which China has acceded or concluded, and adhering to the principles of national treatment and reciprocity in the application of laws. For example, the patent administration authorities of Zhejiang Province handled a case of patent infringement of cigarette lighters filed by a foreigner in a fair manner, ordering the manufacturer to stop the infringing behavior and compensate for the damages.

The State Copyright Administration investigated and dealt with the cases of more than a dozen arts and crafts factories in Fujian and Guangdong imitating toys

modeling of foreign companies, and the case of an electronic industrial company in Jiangsu replicating the production of laser turntables. IBM", "3M", "

ESSO", "P&G", "Hefei", "Little Genius", "Philips" and more than 3,000 foreign-related

trademark infringement cases.

China's intellectual property administrative organs handle foreign-related intellectual property infringement cases, in accordance with

authority to take the initiative to investigate and deal with a large proportion of cases. China's industrial and commercial administrative organs, which are responsible for maintaining economic

order, can take the initiative to inspect the market and effectively protect the rights and interests of trademark registrants

. For example, in Guangdong Province at all levels of industrial and commercial administrative organs, since 1988 **** investigated and dealt with 301 cases of infringement involving the United States.

Of these 301 trademark infringement cases, one-third were complaints from U.S. parties, and most were discovered by industry and commerce

administrative organs during market inspections or reported by consumers. The intellectual property administrative organs

government's impartial enforcement of the law and its determination to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of intellectual property owners have won the praise of many foreign-funded or Chinese

foreign joint ventures. They will be embroidered (engraved) with "integrity and honesty, law enforcement as a mountain", "impartial law enforcement

Law enforcement, support justice and evil", "impartiality, escort", "impartial and strict, the nemesis of counterfeiting",

"strict law enforcement, impartiality" banners, gold plaques, etc. were presented to China Administration for Industry and Commerce (CAIC), and the case officers were praised for their "seriousness and boldness of action", "seriousness of work", "boldness of action", and "boldness of work".

Praised the case officers for their "serious work and bold actions" and "the speed of handling cases is rare in the world.

(People's Daily, online edition, January 1, 2000)