[Ip-health] China says int'l (WTO) IP rules will apply in domestic trials

[Riaz K Tayob]

Washington Trade Daily
   Volume 16, Number 15  Friday, January 19, 2007
  Trade Reports International Group

*            International intellectual property rights laws will
take precedence whenever they are applied in Chinese domestic trials
even if they differ from domestic laws, a senior judicial figure told a
national conference on IPR-related trials according to the China Daily
newspaper (WTD, 1/16/08).  Chinese IPR laws are typically in tune with
international IPR laws, so equal protection is accorded to both overseas
and domestic IPR owners, Cao Jianming, vice-president of the Supreme
People's Court, said yesterday.  But when they are not, China will give
priority to international conventions that are directly applicable to
domestic IPR case trials, said Cao.

As for regulations among documents that China signed on accession to
the World Trade Organization, such as the Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the endeavor is to transform
them into domestic laws.

  "And for those that have already been enshrined in domestic laws,
their execution is bound by international treaties," he said.  "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 is 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.  The disputes will
last for a long time."


Lori M. Wallach
Director
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
215 Pennsylvania Ave SE
Washington, DC  USA   20003
1-202-546-4996
1-202-547-7392 (fax)
www.tradewatch.org

==============================================================
WTO-Intl - the listserv the Our World Is Not For Sale network (OWINFS)
If you have any questions/concerns, contact the list owner at:
WTO-INTL-request@LISTSERVER.CITIZEN.ORG