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GuoBanFa [2006] No.22
To: people's governments of various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, departments and direct affiliates of the State Council
The Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Circulating the Outline of IPR Protection Actions (2006-2007), already approved by the State Council, is now circulated with the expectation of faithful enforcement.
March 27, 2006
Outline of IPR Protection Actions (2006-2007)
For the purpose of strengthening IPR protection， this Outline is formulated on the basis of relevant laws, regulations and provisions.
I. Guiding Principles
1. Guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and the thought of "Three Represents", we seek to substantiate the scientific outlook on development. Following the guideline of "fulfilling commitments, adapting to national conditions, improving systems, and protecting proactively", we shall formulate and complete relevant laws and regulations, solidify the groundwork, strengthen all-round coordination, target key areas and salient issues, identify the responsibilities, intensify administrative and judicial protection, and severely combat illegal and criminal activities involving IPR infringement, with a view to providing strong assurances for encouraging self-innovation and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of right holders.
II. Working Objectives
2.Through solid and effective work, notably improve the enforcement capability and performance of IPR enforcement agencies, more closely combine administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, effectively contain illegal and criminal acts involving IPR infringement, enhance the awareness and capability of creating, managing, utilizing, and protecting IPR among enterprises, scientific research institutes and institutes of higher education, substantially increase the public awareness of IPR protection, and score new progress in institutionalizing an enduring IPR protection mechanism.
III. Working Requirements
3. General requirements: enhance coordination, establish a working mechanism featuring top-down coordination and interaction, and break down local protectionism; combine day-to-day supervision with special campaigns, direct investigational attention to infringement cases with serious circumstances and devastating consequences, and severely combat criminal gangs involved in infringements; transfer without delay suspected criminal cases uncovered in administrative enforcement to judicial authorities, and intensify criminalization efforts.
4. Place IPR protection high on the agenda of people's governments at all levels, incorporate it into the overall economic and social development planning, consolidate organization and leadership, and follow through responsibilities and accountability. Improve the IPR protection supervision system, set up an accountability system for IPR protection, identify and openly criticize areas with rampant IPR problems, and ascertain relevant leadership responsibilities. Strictly and lawfully deal with local protectionism with respect to IPR to the degree of covering up for illegal and criminal IPR-infringing activities, especially non-cooperation in criminal case transfer suspected of self-seeking misconduct.
5. Establish and complete a working mechanism on IPR protection of unified leadership and division of labor and jurisdiction. Strengthen enforcement coordination within governments of all levels, especially local governments. Assemble a highly capable and effective team, provide necessary working conditions, play up the role of coordination, institute systems of statistics and reporting, and intensify case-processing supervision. All competent IPR authorities and related departments should play out their functions and coordinate with one another. Public security and judicial organs should further intensify combating efforts, and enhance the criminal and judicial protection of IPR. Related departments for development and reform and finance should provide due facilitation for IPR protection. Propaganda and education departments should actively coordinate in key operations, and orchestrate extensive publicity and in-depth media coverage with a focus on updating the world with China’s practices and achievements of IPR protection.
6. Pay close attention to ongoing reforms and developments in the international IPR arena, learn the patterns and laws of domestic and international IPR disputes, and propose customized countermeasures. Catering to China's needs of developing foreign trade and IPR protection, actively participate in international rule-making and magnify China's international influence in the field of IPR protection. Enhance international exchanges and cooperation, properly resolve foreign-related IPR disputes, and press for a sound mechanism for multilateral and bilateral cooperation in combating IPR violations and curbing cross-border and cross-region infringements.
7. Beef up grass-root authorities of trademark, culture, copyright, patent and public security and judicial organs to match their capabilities to their responsibilities. Meanwhile, vigorously promote accountability in enforcement and standardize enforcement practices to genuinely ensure laws are strictly observed and enforced, and offenders are penalized.
IV. Focuses and Principal Measures
8. Forcefully combat piracy. Resolutely remove production lines of pirated CDs, severely deal with illegal and criminal activities of transporting pirated products through post, air, roads, railways or other channels, take out illegal stalls, hawkers and peddlers selling pirated CDs, crack down on piracy of books, publications, textbooks and teaching tutorials as well as cyber infringement and piracy. Continue to promote the use of legitimate software.
9. Continue to crack down on trademark infringements in commodity trading markets. Concentrate efforts on streamlining commodity markets with rampant IPR infringement, tighten management liabilities for market hosts, and consolidate the supervisory functions of administrative enforcement agencies. Order commodity markets repeatedly involved in selling counterfeit and infringing goods and showing little sign of improvement to be streamlined within a given timeframe. Lawfully and decidedly take out such markets in severe circumstances of infringement.
10. Intensify the crackdown on critical issues of patent infringement. Increase the capability and efficiency of dealing with patent infringement disputes and increase patent protection, particularly in food and drug, agriculture, and high-tech fields. Continue to tighten crackdown on patent-related frauds, curb repetitive and group patent infringement activities, and deal with false patent claims and patent counterfeiting. Patent protection starts with distribution and is proactively enhanced through modern technologies and means. Tighten monitoring and control, quicken case response and deliver a resolute blow on patent infringement.
11. Strengthen IPR protection in import and export. The Customs should improve risk management against infringements, actively introduce advanced ways of checking, improve the capability and efficiency of detecting and capturing infringing goods, and sever the international circulation of infringing goods. The authorities of industry and commerce, Customs, patent and commerce should collaborate closely to improve supervision over and service to export producing and processing firms, especially OEM enterprises, set up an entrusting party recording system, help enterprises improve self-discipline and internal management, and reinforce prevention against infringements.
12. Enhance IPR protection at trade shows. Launch Operation Blue Sky to protect IPR at fairs and exhibitions, follow the Measures on IPR Protection at Trade Shows, consolidate IPR management at various fairs and exhibitions, and prevent domestic and foreign offenders from producing and selling infringing and counterfeit goods at fairs and exhibitions.
13. Install a nationwide network of IPR complaint reporting and service. Make full use of existing organizations and manpower to open comprehensive IPR compliant reporting and service centers in 50 cities across the country, and intensify case supervision throughout a complete process of case acceptance, transfer, tracking, closing, feedback, and summary.
V. Instituting an Enduring Mechanism
14. Improve the legal and regulatory framework. Targeting thorny issues in ongoing IPR protection efforts, improve relevant laws and regulations by making them more operable and deterrent. Study and lay out the criteria for calculating the amount of illicit proceeds from infringing activities and check IPR abuse as well as the imitation of famous trademarks in business names, trademarks and symbols. Promote law-making on IPR protection in such fields as genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and folk literature and artistic works.
15. Build up a highly efficient enforcement coordination system. Improve the inter-departmental joint enforcement mechanism and put in place arrangements for cross-region case transfer, information sharing, and coordinated investigation. Launch the website of "Intellectual Property Protection in China" in both Chinese and English, structure a working platform complete with functions such as information service, case supervision, statistics, status review and early warning, and promote greater synergy among enforcement coordinating agencies, administrative enforcement bodies, public security and judicial authorities.
16. Improve the capability and level of IPR protection of companies. Strengthen communication and coordination with domestic and foreign right holders and provide in due course IPR-related information, counsel and public service. Enhance IPR review in economic activities such as mergers and acquisitions and technology transfers to prevent IPR drain. Support enterprises in using legal weapons and international rules to safeguard their rights and interests, and prevent IPR abuse. Facilitate the enterprises to establish and improve the IPR management system. Establish a mechanism to aid overseas companies to safeguard their legitimate rights.
17. Fully utilize industrial associations and IPR intermediary organizations. Encourage and support industrial associations to conduct activities concerning industry self-discipline and right protection and effectively respond to IPR disputes. Support IPR intermediary organizations to expand their service scope, and improve their services. Push forward with improving relevant laws, regulations and measures, and streamline and regularize IPR intermediary services.
18. Enhance publicity and training. Organize timely publicity events in various forms on China's achievements and continuously raise the public awareness of IPR protection. Hold press conferences on a regular basis and carry on with the publicity highlight of IPR Week. Actively use public opinion for supervision and disclose typical infringement cases. Provide training in different channels and ways to leaders and officials of the party and government, administrative and judicial enforcement agents and the management of companies. Incorporate the publicity and education on IPR protection into the "fifth five-year" law popularization program and the teaching programs of primary and secondary schools. Institutes of higher education shall increase academic efforts on the subject of IPR protection and cultivate specialized talents in this field.
In the spirit of this Outline, all regions and departments should develop detailed action programs based on the nature of their work and ensure that the programs are effectively implemented.
Key Words: economic management of IPR, Notice
C.C.: All CPC Central agencies, people's governments of cities under direct state planning, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, General Office of the Central Military Committee, various headquarters and categories of troops and military zones;
General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, General Office of the National Political Consultative Conference, Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate and central offices of various democratic parties.
Secretarial Bureau of the General Office of the State Council
Issued on March 29, 2006
(Source: State Office of Intellectual Property Protection of the P.R.C and IPR in China)
In case of any discrepancy, the original version shall prevail.
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