International intellectual property rights?(IPR) laws
will have precedence whenever they're applied in Chinese domestic
cases even if they differ from domestic laws, a senior judicial
figure has told a national conference on IPR-related trials.
Chinese IPR laws are typically in tune with related
international laws so equal protection is accorded to both overseas
and domestic IPR owners, Cao Jianming, vice-president of the
Supreme People's Court (SPC), said yesterday.
But when they weren't China would give priority to international
conventions that are directly applicable to domestic IPR cases,
said Cao.
As for the regulations in documents signed by China on accession
to the World Trade Organization, such as the Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the
idea was to transform them into domestic laws. "And for those that
have already been enshrined in domestic laws their execution is
bound by international treaties," Cao explained.
To further allay foreign concerns on IPR protection the Standing
Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature,
recently approved China's entry into the WIPO Copyright Treaty and
the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
"IPR protection has become a constant strategic topic in China's
external affairs," Cao said. "On the one hand China has made
remarkable progress while on the other some developed countries
keep applying pressure as global IPR competition
intensifies.?
"It's impossible to solve in a short time contradictions between
China's economic and technical shortcomings as a developing country
and the high IPR protection standards proposed by developed
countries," Cao said. "The disputes will last for a long time."
He reiterated China's stand in adhering to "national treatment"
principles according to TRIPS agreements. "Favorable treatment will
neither be offered to foreign parties because of their foreign
sensitiveness nor protectionism given to any local or industrial
parties in the name of protecting national interests," Cao
said.
IPR-related court cases have been on a rapid rise in recent
years. From 2002 to 2006 Chinese courts dealt with 931 IPR cases
involving overseas parties which indicated a rise of 50 percent
each year, according to Jiang Zhipei, chief justice of the SPC IPR
Tribunal.
(China Daily January 19, 2007)