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Great leap in IPR protection

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-21 07:42

China has encouraged the whole world by making remarkable progress in intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in a short time, a world IPR body official said yesterday.

Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), made the remarks in a video greeting to the China Intellectual Property Protection Week, launched in Beijing.

Gurry said China's development in the intellectual property sector was faster than that of many other countries contributing to the world's innovation cause.

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Gurry's remarks reflected China's persistent efforts over the past three decades to protect intellectual property, said Tian Lipu, director of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).

China established a trademark law system that suited both China and international regulations, Tian said, adding the country joined six international treaties or conventions concerning trademarks.

Statistics at SIPO showed the administration had handled more than 4 million patent applications and registered more than 3 million trademarks before end March last year, both figures among the world's highest.

The country has enhanced the protection of international trademarks in the past years, as more than 530,000 foreign trademarks from more than 130 countries and regions were registered in China by 2008, Tian said.

The figure was more than 100 times more than in 1979, when companies and enterprises from only 20 countries and regions had registered their trademarks in China.

Tian said China advocated observing World Intellectual Property Rights Day on April 26 in 2001, and has held Intellectual Property Protection Week since 2004.

Lectures on intellectual property protection, a crackdown on illegal video and audio products, as well as a white paper on intellectual property protection of China's customs administrations, are lined up for the event, according to the official.

Xinhua