The year 2012 was marked by major advances in intellectual property protection, said a senior official from the State Intellectual Property Office at a meeting on April 24 to celebrate the World Intellectual Property Day.
The country has made great strides in terms of IP enforcement, corporate IP management as well as the development of a legal framework, said Wu Kai, director of SIPO's International Cooperation Department.
More than 30 representatives from foreign embassies, chambers of commerce, institutions and foreign-funded companies attended the briefing in Beijing.
"Draft revisions of the Patent Law and regulations covering service invention entered the legislative process for public comment last year, and international IP communications and cooperation have also deepened in terms of scale and diversity," Wu said.
He also noted that SIPO has strengthened public IP services by launching a multilingual interface for patent searches that includes information in Chinese, English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, French, Russian and German.
In addition, SIPO last year received more than 2 million patent applications and authorized 1.25 million.
Of those, applications for invention patents reached 653,000, up 24 percent year-on-year. International patent applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty increased 14 percent to nearly 20,000, Wu said.
Launched in 2006, the annual meeting serves to help SIPO better fulfill its functions and serve the public since it is "a good opportunity for SIPO to enhance exchanges with foreign embassies, agencies and related companies in China, and have a better understanding of their requests and demands", Wu said.
Qu Xiaoyang, a representative from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said he is interested in the latest information of the draft regulation on service invention as well as the relationship between it and a related guiding document jointly issued by more than a dozen government agencies at the end of last year.
Song Jianhua, director of SIPO's Law and Treaty Department, replied that SIPO has completed the drafting and sent it to the higher-level Chinese government agencies.
"The draft regulation and last year's policy document on service invention both originate from the requirements of the national talent strategy," she added.
"The policy document mainly targets State-owned enterprises and research institutions, serving as a forerunner for the transition into a law on service invention."
Zhang Zhicheng, deputy director-general of SIPO's Protection and Coordination Department, responded to a representative from the EU delegation, who asked how SIPO will assist Chinese enterprises involved in overseas IP lawsuits.
"Many companies, especially those in developing countries, do not have effective accesses to necessary information, professional services and training. So we will provide support on these matters," Zhang noted.
He also said that the assistance SIPO provides mainly involves building the capacity of Chinese companies to handle IP disputes with foreign entities. Related authorities and enforcement officials will also uphold the principle of justice and treat companies equally.
Since local administrative agencies above the district level nationwide have the right to enforce IP laws, SIPO will issue regulations and guiding documents on local administrative enforcement, said Cao Donggen, deputy director-general of the Patent Administration Department.
It will also organize an annual training program to enhance enforcement, he added.
haonan@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 05/08/2013 page17)
