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WTO Panel To Probe China's IP Enforcement
by Winter Casey
The World Trade Organization on Tuesday granted a request from the United States to establish a panel to examine China's protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, a trade source said.
In April, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative made two formal requests with the World Trade Organization concerning China's legal regime for protecting and enforcing copyrights and trademarks and alleged barriers to trade China has erected against books, music, videos and movies.
Bilateral "discussions on the specific matters described in the U.S. panel request have not resulted in a mutually agreeable solution to our concerns," the United States said Tuesday in statements before the WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting in Geneva.
"We have taken note of China's statement at the August meeting, including China's comments about the efforts it has made to develop and enforce its IPR regime," the United States said. "As we have said before, the United States recognizes that China has made the protection of intellectual property rights a priority, and that China has taken active steps to improve IPR protection and enforcement."
Since April, "China has vigorously defended its position, regretting the U.S. insistence in setting up a WTO panel on the case," according to China's Xinhua News Agency.
The Chinese mission to the WTO said China has spared no efforts to improve its IP legislation and that this legislation is in compliance with WTO rules, Xinhua reported Wednesday.
China accused the United States of trying to change the WTO legal structure regarding IP protection and impose extra obligations on developing members.
In other Chinese-related news, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report this week calling on China to do a better job of opening its markets to U.S. products and services.
"There are heightened concerns over China's discriminatory industrial and investment policies that effectively limit access to its markets for American firms, particularly in the services sector," said Myron Brilliant, the chamber's vice president for East Asia, in a statement. "China should understand that it must take steps to address these concerns or face a significant erosion of support for the U.S.-China commercial relationship in the United States."
According to the report, the legislative and judicial reforms China has taken to foster high-tech development and protect IP "remain toothless without effective implementation and enforcement mechanisms."
China also has considered or implemented "several laws and regulations that discriminate against foreign suppliers, technologies, and IP owners by extending legal benefits solely to their domestic competitors," the report charged.
The chamber also said that China's poor protection of IP "stimulates" global exports of IP-infringing goods that hurt the legitimate sales of U.S. goods and raise safety issues.
U.S. To Fund IP Projects Around The World
The U.S government plans to spend millions on efforts to promote the protection of intellectual property rights around the world, the State Department announced Monday.
The government said it will fund 13 projects with $3 million allocated to combat crime. The funding is aimed at helping U.S. law enforcement agencies and diplomatic missions collaborate to support international enforcement training and technical assistance programs to protect IP, the State Department said.
The money will support enforcement training for a new anti-piracy task force in Brazil as well as enforcement training for officials working on the Chilean border. It also will pay for two full-time U.S. senior technical advisers to assist Indonesia in implementing new optical disc anti-piracy laws.
The U.S. government also plans to support training in South Africa to combat high-tech related IP crime. Other IP training projects will target the Asia Pacific, Caribbean, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Southeast Asia, Turkey and the Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the United States and Swedish patent offices announced last week they are launching a pilot project to consider ways to improve the international patent applications process and the quality of patents processed in the two countries.
Canada To Invest In Broadband For British Columbia
The Canadian government plans to invest $60,000 for high-speed Internet access in British Columbia.
"Online access is vital for successful businesses in urban and rural communities across British Columbia," said Canadian Member of Parliament Ron Cannan in a statement last week. "This investment will enable businesses in the northern part of Vancouver Island to compete and prosper in the global marketplace," he added.
The funding will be spent on enabling residents of some British Columbia communities to have access to online services and distance learning. The funds also are expected to improve business communications with the global marketplace.
"High-speed technology today is what the telephone was at the turn of the 20th century," said Brenda Swanson with the Community Futures Development Association of British Columbia. "The potential for economic development and small business success in rural and remote North Island communities will be enhanced by the establishment of this service."
European Commission Calls For Spectrum Study
The European Commission is looking for researchers interested in studying how to best optimize the use of radio spectrum by the public sector.
The commission's Information Society and Media directorate is seeking research on the possibility of new technological approaches that could be used to use spectrum more efficiently and on how to best find an appropriate balance between spectrum that is allocated for public, commercial, and private needs.
The directorate also is seeking research on how the public sector in member states could adopt a more long-term, proactive approach to its use of spectrum.
Also on the telecom front, India's Ministry of Telecommunications said this week that it will not accept any new telecom license applications until after Oct. 1. CyberMedia News reports that India's Department of Telecom currently has 160 telecom license applications pending.
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