PANEL ESTABLISHED TO EXAMINE US CLAIMS OF CHINESE IP VIOLATIONS

The WTO on 25 September established a formal panel to investigate US allegations that Beijing is tolerating intellectual property rights violations and maintaining trade barriers against books, music, and other copyrighted goods.

Washington (WT/DS362/7) claims that China is doing too little to enforce copyright and trademark protection on a wide range of goods such as books, CDs, and DVDs. It argues that Beijing sets an unacceptably high bar for punishing copyright infringements with criminal prosecution, allowing large-scale commerce to take place in pirated movies and music with the threat of little more than an administrative fine.

Furthermore, the US contends that the Chinese government's policies on intellectual property-right infringing goods - including counterfeits - are too lax. It says that China's denial of copyright law protection to works that have not received censorship approval for publication and distribution in the country allows for piracy without the risk of legal punishment. Washington also claims that Beijing's censorship procedures and copyright law give better and prompter protection to works by Chinese citizens than to those by foreign nationals.

China blocked the US' first request for a panel in August. WTO rules prevented it from doing so a second time (see BRIDGES Weekly, 5 September 2007).

At the meeting of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, a US official acknowledged China had tried to improve the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, but said that it was not enough. Bilateral discussions "have not resulted in a mutually agreeable solution to our concerns," the delegate added. The US initiated the dispute in April (see BRIDGES Weekly, 18 April 2007).

The Chinese WTO mission in Geneva issued a statement after the gathering insisting that the laws in question were in full accordance with WTO rules, according to the state-owned China Daily.

According to the standard timetable for WTO disputes, once panelists have been appointed, they should issue their ruling in six months.

ICTSD reporting; "China's IPR action to be probed," CHINA DAILY, 27 September 2007.