A Critical Look at Western Perceptions of China's Intellectual Property System
| Autor | Brian J. Safran |
| Cargo | M.S. in Global Affairs (with distinction), New York University (2012) |
| Páginas | 135-185 |
A
C
RITICAL
L
OOK AT
W
ESTERN
P
ERCEPTIONS OF
C
HINA
’
S
I
NTELLECTUAL
P
ROPERTY
S
YSTEM
B
RIAN
J.
S
AFRAN
*
I. Introduction ............................................................ ........................................... .......... 136
II. Context/Background ................................ ................................................................ 138
A. Brief History of China’s Intellectual Property System ........................... 138
B. Western Perceptions of China’s Intellectual Property System
Today ...................... ............................................ ........................................... ............ 141
III. Theoretical Framework- Theory of Reasoned Action ............................. 142
IV. Data Presentation and Analysis ............................................... ........................ 147
A. Substantive Law Protecting IP in China ........................................... ............ 147
1. Patents ................................... ........................................... ..................................... 147
2. C opyrights ............................................................................................................ 148
3. T rademarks .................. ........................................... ........................................... . 149
4. T rade Secrets ................. ........................................... .......................................... 150
B. Specific Procedures for Protecting IPR in China ............................ .......... 151
1. Registration Procedures ......................................................... ........................ 151
2. E nforcement Procedures ................................ ................................................ 153
a. The Judicial Option ................ ........................................... ............................ 153
b. The Administrative Option ..................................................................... ... 158
c. Criminal Enforcement .............................. ........................................... ........ 161
C. Note on China’s Indigenous Innovation Policy ......................................... 162
V. International Law Affecting IP Enforcement in China ................................. 165
A. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ....................... .......... 165
B. World Trade Organization and the TRIPS Agreement ........................... 167
VI. Note on the Impact of Confucian Culture on China’s Legal System .... 170
VII. Analyzing the Enforcement Potential ........................................... ................. 171
A. Case Law Pertaining to Intellectual Property .................... ........................ 171
B. The Challenges Facing the Western Multinational Corporation
Operating in China ................................................... ........................................... . 178
C. Best Practices and Winning Strategies among Multinational
Corporations in China ............. ........................................... ................................. 179
* M.S. in Global Affairs (with distinction), New York University (2012); B.A. in Political
Science (summa cum laude), Hofs tra University (2007). The author would like to thank
Professor Everett E. Myers for his insights from the initial conception of this project in
Beijing and Shanghai, to his assistance during the preparation of the final product in New
York. A preliminary part of this article was previousl y discussed by the author. See Brian J.
Safran, A Critical Look at Western Perceptions of China’s Intellectual Property System, 8 N.Y.U.
J.
P
OL
.
&
I
NT
’
L
A
FF
. 97 (Spring 2011), available at http://www.nyu.edu/clu bs/jpia.club/PDF/
SPRING2011.pdf.
136 U.P.R. Business Law Journal Vol. 3
VIII. Conclusion ......................................... ........................................... ............................ 182
A. The Implications for the Western Multinational Corporation ......... ... 182
B. Policy Recommendations ........................................ .......................................... 183
I. I
NTRODUCTION
Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter, “IPR”), are a body of rights
that have long been recognized under international and national law as being
a mechanism to incentivize innovation; the means by which to encourage the
creation of new inventions in order to propel economic growth in an
economy at large, as well as to promote technology transfer and diffusion to
render it easier for more people to share in the welfare of human creativity
and knowledge, in order to promote social and economic progress and raise
living standards.
1
Within the scope of these rights is the protection of patents
for a product or process, trademarks for a logo, and c opyrights for literary or
artistic works. In addition, rights are extended to provide for the protection
of undisclosed information or trade secrets (e.g. for a recipe or formula),
industrial designs (e.g. for the design of industrial components), and
geographic indications (e.g. a reference to a geographic region which acts as
a means of certification of the quality of certain products).
2
Due to the fluid
nature of intellectual property, it is widely acknowledged that such rights can
only be fully protected if recognized under international law, so that
intellectual property (hereinafter,“IP”) cannot be stolen or reproduced in one
region of the world and then imitated and distributed in another.
3
Since the
nineteenth century, an international regime has existed for the protection of
intellectual property.
4
During 2011, there c ould be no doubt that IPR holders faced
significant challenges when attempting to protect their rights abroad. In a
world increasingly marked by the forces of globalization and the exodus of
people, goods and services across borders, and propelled by international
agreements (e.g. the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) it has become
more necessary than ever to construct a global mindset when attempting to
1
Zhongfa Ma, Perception of the Objectives of Intellectual Propert y Legal System, the Essence
of a Patent and the Missi ons of Pate nt Institution—in Aspect of Low Rate of Patented
Technology Commercialization in China, 2 I
NT
’
L
J.
B
US
.
&
S
OC
.
S
CI
.
164,
165
(2011),
http://
www.ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol._2_No._3_%5BSpecial_Issue_- _January_2011%5D/19.pdf.
2
Overview: the TRIPS Agreement, W
ORLD
T
RADE
O
RG
., http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/
trips_e/intel2_e.htm (last visited Oct. 9, 2011).
3
See, e.g. Elhanan Helpman, Innovation, Imitation and I ntellectual Property Rights,
E
CONOMETRICA
, November 1993, at 1247, http://faculty.arec.umd.edu/cmcausla nd/RAKhor/
RAkhor%20Task3/Helpman.pdf.
4
S
IMON
N
ICHOLAS
L
ESTER
&
B
RYAN
M
ERCURIO
,
W
ORLD
T
RADE
L
AW
:
T
EXT
,
M
ATERIALS AND
C
OMMENTARY
(2008).
No. 2 A Critical Look at Western Perceptions of
China’s Intellectual Property System
137
enforce IPRs. Today, China presents a particular threat in th at regard.
Although a member of the World Trade Organization since 2001, this country
is one that has historically been reluctant to recognize western norms of the
rule of law.
5
Whether on the streets of Shanghai or in popular shopping malls
such as the Silk Market in Beijing (秀水街), it is not uncommon to see an
array of counterfeited consumer goods ranging from luxury handbags,
clothes, shampoo and toothpaste to fake DVDs, notebook computers and
electronics, and even prescription medicine such as Tamiflu and Viagra.
6
On May 25, 2011, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China
released its Business Confidence Survey 2011. Among its conclusions,
seventy–three percent (73%) of survey respondents believed China's written
intellectual property law to be adequate; while twenty-seven percent (27%)
of respondents believed the enforcement of such law to be adequate.
Moreover, forty-two percent (42%) of respondents ranked the discretionary
enforcement policy of broadly drafted laws and regulations to be the most
significant regulatory obstacle t o do business in Mainland China; and forty-
six perfect (46%) of survey respondents concluded that China’s regulatory
environment is likely to worsen over the next two years for foreign invested
enterprises operating in China.
7
This report follows one previously issued on
March 2011, by the American Chamber of Commerce (hereinafter,
“AmCham”) in China, which similarly concluded that seventy percent (70%)
of American businesses operating in China beli eved its IP system is weak and
ineffectual. Also, according to twenty-four percent (24%) of survey
respondents, IP infringement was reported to be among the top five (5)
business challenges; in comparison with an increase from the nineteen
percent (19%) as reported the previous year.
8
Acknowledging to these survey results, multinational businesses
based outside of China would appear to have little access to recourse their
individual IPRs protection in China. However, the question still remains
whether these survey results truly reflect the busi ness operating
environment in China or whether they merely reflect the collective business
consciousness and perception that, because of the amount and visibility of IP
infringement in China, its IP regulatory and enforcement regime is weak.
5
See, e.g., Katherine R. Xi n & Jone L. Pearce, Guanxi: Connections as Substitutes for Formal
Institutional Support, 39 A
CAD
.
OF
M
GMT
.
J., 1996, at 1641, http://iweb.swufe.edu.cn/jiarui/
Management_Resources/%E4%BC%81%E4%B8%9A%E7%AE%A1%E 7%90%86/Guanxi%
20Connections%20as%20Substitutes%20for%20Formal%20Instituti onal%20Support.pdf.
6
R
EBECCA
O
RDISH
&
A
LAN
A
DCOCK
,
C
HINA
I
NTELLECTUAL
P
ROPERTY
-
C
HALLENGES
&
S
OLUTIONS
:
A
N
E
SSENTIAL
B
USINESS
G
UIDE
(2008).
7
Business Confidence Survey 2011, E
UR
.
C
HAMBER OF
C
OMMMERCE
(May 25, 2011),
http://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/view/media/public ations/#bd (follow European
Confidence Survey 2011 “EN” hyperlink).
8
See 2011 Business Climate Survey, A
M
.
C
HAMBER OF
C
OMMERCE
(Mar. 22, 2011), http://www.
amchamchina.org/upload/cmsfile/2011/03/22/efb2ab9d3806269fc343 f640cb33baf9.pdf.
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