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Intellectual Property Challenges In China
by Winter Casey
European companies operating in China are most concerned by the counterfeiting of trademarks, followed by copyright piracy and the infringement of designs and patents, according to an intellectual property enforcement study released last week by the European Commission.
The infringements usually are carried out by local producers for local use, sales and exportation, the companies said. The study found that 46 percent of respondents used technical measures such as watermarks or coding to protect their intellectual property.
The report also found that 83 percent of respondents were able to identify those connected to the counterfeiting of their products. Still, companies report that it is expensive to track intellectual property thieves. Identifying the manufacturing sources and the providers of storage facilities generally are the greatest challenges for companies in China, according to the study.
The availability and commitment of Chinese authorities in helping to curb IP theft is considered by companies to be inconsistent, the study found. Further, respondents described IP measures that have been adopted by authorities as "ineffective."
The U.S. Council for International Business said last week that even though China has increased its obligations -- via the World Trade Organization -- to increase foreign participation in the audio-visual sector, China's limits on foreign media and entertainment products only serve "to promote the spread of illegal pirated audio-visual products."
The council also said China has made no progress toward complying with WTO telecommunications commitments. China has been a WTO member since December 2001.
China Gains On Europe In High-Tech Sector
The European Union is "losing ground in high-technology products, while countries such as China are rapidly catching up," according to a European Commission staff working document on competing globally.
The report, submitted to the European Parliament last week, said companies are not always aware of the risks they take when operating abroad and do not know what to do when their equipment is copied in countries such as China.
According to the report, future free-trade agreements should include provisions for protecting intellectual property in addition to addressing other economic interests, and environmental and social issues. The decision to launch trade negotiations should be done on a case-by-case basis, the document added. Despite the importance of such agreements, they "carry risks for the multilateral trading system," the document said.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in an Oct. 4 speech that the region needs to take a number of steps to improve its current trade policy in order to enhance Europe's global competitiveness. The European Union must develop a renewed strategy with China, place more focus on strengthening IP rights, and improve Europe's ability to identify and remove barriers to trade in key countries, Mandelson said.
Another report released last week showed that the top 1,000 European companies increased their investments in research and development by an average of 5.3 percent in 2005. The European Commission, the EU policymaking body, issued the scorecard. The top 1,000 non-EU companies increased their R&D investments by 7.7 percent, according to the study.
The European Union has struggled to meet its goal of investing 3 percent of the area's gross domestic product in R&D. Research spending dropped from 1.92 percent of GDP in 2003 to 1.9 percent in 2004. According to this year's study, R&D investment has increased in software and computer services.
In other news, the Scientific Technology Options Assessment Panel of the European Parliament is holding a workshop in Brussels, Belgium Nov. 8-9 on policy options for the European patent system. And the International Telecommunication Union is holding a workshop Oct. 19-20 in Geneva on communication and information technology standards for emergency public warnings.
China Plans To Increase Software Exports
China plans to increase its exports of software to $10 billion by 2010, according to a joint document issued by the Commerce Ministry, the State Taxation Administration and seven other central government agencies.
The Chinese government also announced that it will require all mobile telephone users, including pre-paid customers, to register for services using their real names. The new rule will take effect next year, according to the country's government-authorized Internet news portal.
U.S.-Peru Committed To Free Trade
President Bush and Peruvian President Alan Garcia committed Tuesday to expanding trade between their countries. Bush re-affirmed his commitment to getting congressional approval of a trade agreement as soon as possible. Bush signed the agreement in April.
The Business Roundtable has said the agreement would allow important U.S. exports, such as technology equipment, to enter Peru duty-free. As part of the agreement, the group said Peru will sign the WTO's Information Technology Agreement, which mandates removal of all tariff and non-tariff barriers on computers and other tech products.
The agreement also would provide opportunities for U.S. firms involved in remanufactured products such as cellular phones and computers, the organization said.
Indian TV Report On Call Centers Is Criticized
The National Association of Software Services Companies, the trade group for India's software and services industry, blasted a television station for refusing to comply with the group's request for information on an investigative program about corrupt staff associated with customer-service call centers in India. Had the television channel that aired the story cooperated, the group said it would have been able to take prompt action against the accused criminals.
"We are concerned about the verifiability of such stories, especially sting operations where monetary inducements were provided," association President Kiran Karnik said in a statement. "These operations sometimes go beyond uncovering wrongdoing and actually induce criminal activity that is then recorded and aired.
"In this particular case, one of the alleged criminals has stated that the data he offered for sale was fake. This, and the lack of prompt cooperation by the producer with enforcement agencies, makes difficult the task of bringing to book the criminals involved."
In other news, a French news report said that a member of the French Parliament has prepared a report that recommends mandatory use of the OpenDocument format. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin requested the report.
The format, which is supported by tech giants such as IBM and Sun Microsystems, enables the retrieval of information and the exchange of documents without regard to the application or platform in which the document was created.
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