IPR2’s work planning for 2009 Go back »
2009-03-18 | All chapters
March 2009, Beijing
IPR2’s work planning for 2009, accent on enforcement and intervention at local level
The Work Plan aims to practically address both the EU and China’s strategic priorities and achieve practical and measurable results; at the same time aiming to be sufficiently flexible to reflect developments in the evolving field of IP.
The second annual work plan foresees 33 activities (and in addition, 15 continuing from the first work plan) targeting the main elements of the Chinese IP system and associated horizontal issues under the Project’s six areas of activity – legal framework, capacity-building, access to information, enforcement, support to right holders and trademarks and designs – and built around recurrent and long-term training programmes, study tours to Europe, workshops, on-line training, seminars and expert exchanges.
Key areas of activity include:
- Support to the revision of China’s IP Laws (Copyright, Trademark and Patent Law Implementing Regulations) with workshops, trainings and study tours by Chinese drafting teams to experts in Europe (parliamentary bodies, ministries, IP offices, research institutions, IP law firms), by way of providing suggestions for consideration during the legislative process; and more broadly bringing the laws in line with the goals set out in the National IP Strategy and with the latest international developments. For example, for the Copyright Law revision, looking at Europe’s recent developments on copyright protection in particular the legal framework for broadcasting rights. The revision will aim to promote the commercialisation of copyrights, supporting the development of creative industries and addressing the challenges of the Internet and new technologies; as well as protection and free dissemination of information.
- Support to IP management activities, designed for local officials and Chinese industry; with study visits, workshops and training programmes aimed at building knowledge on IP valuation strategy; the use, function and legality of IPRs. Specifically, protection of IP in an environment of open innovation and promoting technical research and co-operation between businesses, the protection of software rights as well as IP information systems.
- Copyright enforcement trainings, study visits and seminars in the context of unprecedented evolution of information technologies; to raise awareness and support the capacity of the enforcing agencies on substantive, procedural and organisational issues in the on-line environment.
- Long-term training of Chinese officials in European IP law and similarly, reinforcing existing IP law programs in China towards comprehensive and high quality IP education.
- Comprehensive information on European IP legislation and IP protection; and likewise, raising awareness on the European side, in particular academia, on Chinese IPR systems and legislation.
- Building the personnel and institutional capacity of Chinese IP offices with workshops and study tours to inform on the European patent system and provide access to information in order to better handle the large number of patent cases.
- Support to the EU-China IPR Customs Action Plan, recently adopted (Jan 2009), with workshops and study exchange by enhancing information flow between China and EU Customs authorities; including sharing of best practice on risk analysis and prevention techniques; reinforcing Chinese Customs strategic and operational capacity.
- Training of officials and publication of materials for IP protection at trade fairs for officials and industry, including support dispute settlement mechanisms such as mediation services and awareness building on respect for IP in the trade fair environment.
- Strengthening criminal enforcement in terms of prosecution of IPR cases, through high-level dialogue and expert exchanges between Chinese and European enforcement authorities Specifically, looking at the European system of tackling IP crimes and countermeasures; criminal protection research on trade secrets; as well as training on intelligence models including inter-agency co-operation operational tasking. As well as strengthening interaction between Chinese and European IP judges and support to procuratorates, with training, study tours and studies in support of prosecutors’ efforts to manage criminal IP cases.
- Exchanging best practice between Chinese and European agencies on the implementation of China’s new Anti-Monopoly Law with a workshop focusing on the relationship between competition law and IP rights.
- Workshops on ground-level enforcement issues, including unfair competition and e-commerce for enforcement officials.
- Consideration for emerging interests such as the protection of Geographical Indications (GIs) in the form of a feasibility study in support of the EU-China negotiations on GIs and gathering input on the quality of GI products.
- Publication of new issues in the Roadmap for IP Protection series covering areas of interest to right holders in Europe and China
Features of the 2nd Annual Work Plan:
- Provides a flexible strategic and operational framework for project implementation from April 2009 to March 2010; endorsed by the Project Steering Committee comprising of representatives of the Chinese Beneficiary Ministries, agencies and institutions and the Delegation of the European Commission to China.
- Follows an extensive stakeholder consultation between the IPR2 Project Team, the Chinese Beneficiaries, experts from Europe, the Office for Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM) and IP professionals in and outside of China.
- Builds on the results achieved since the launch of the Project in November 2007. Activities have been balanced in number and size, reflecting experience gained and targeting needs determined during the first year of implementation.
- Highlights an increased interest in implementing joint activities among several Beneficiaries. Consequently, activities spread across multiple agencies will widen the scope of implementation and increase potential impact.
- Increases incidence of enforcement-driven activities. While the first year of implementation concentrated on activities in support of improving the legal framework, building the capacity of IP bodies and developing tools in support of industry, the 2nd Work Plan focuses efforts under Component IV – Civil, Criminal and Administrative Enforcement.
- Emphasises the interface between IP and other disciplines including competition law, technology transfer, climate change, e-commerce, the protection of IP at trade fairs and IP management. The Work Plan also ensures that the Project will continue to invest in developing and refining relevant documentation, data collection and training material, thereby seeking to build sustainable deliverables from activities implemented; as well as support the preparation of the EU-China dialogues.
- Widens the geographical coverage of implementing activities, following demand from Beneficiaries to locate more at the regional/local level. The number of activities targeting the Provinces will therefore increase substantially, with activities and events taking place, beyond Beijing and Shanghai, for example in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Jiangsu and Wuhan; as well as a number of activities taking place in Europe.
- Recognises that there are multiple ministries and agencies involved in working towards a more effective and sustainable environment for IP protection and enforcement of IPR in China. Activities under the Work Plan will take into account their varying structure, needs, competences.
- Centres activities on the exchange of information, know-how and best practice which should intensify co-operation between a network of authorities, Chinese and European right holders and other stakeholders.
About IPR2:
The EU-China Project on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR2) was launched in 2007 by the European Commission and the Government of People’s Republic of China. The objective of the project is to improve the effectiveness of IPR enforcement in China. Building on the success of IPR1 from 1999-2004, which promoted international standards of IPR protection in Chinese legislation, IPR2 targets the reliability, efficiency and accessibility of the IP protection system in China. This is done by closely co-operating with and providing technical support to the different levels of the Chinese legislative, judicial, administrative and enforcement authorities to help build their capacity; as well as improving access to information for users and officials and reinforcing support to right holders. With EUR 16.275 million in joint funding over 4 years (EUR 10.85 from the EU and 5.425 from China), IPR2 reflects the EU and China’s long-term commitment to developing a sustainable environment for effective IPR enforcement in China.
The European Patent Office (EPO) is the European implementing organisation; who together with the Chinese implementing organisation, the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce of China, have an office based in Beijing. The EPO is supported in specific areas with expertise from its Member States and the Office for the Harmonisation of the Internal Market (OHIM), responsible for registering the European Community’s Trademarks and Designs. For more information visit www.epo.org and www.oami.europa.eu.
Contacts:
Tamryn Barker, EU-China IPR2 Project
Email: tamryn.barker@ipr2.org Tel: +86 135 2206 7124
For further information:
IPR2 project web site: www.ipr2.org
China IPR portal: www.ipr.gov.cn
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