Information on China's Action Plan on IPR Protection 2006

To better protect the IPR, resolutely¹ punish and combat various infringement² and other illegal activities, the National IPR Protection Working Group Office, in conjunction with other relevant departments, formulated⁴ “China's Action Plan on IPR Protection 2006" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan").
　　Focusing on major issues in relation with China's IPR protection efforts, the Action Plan clearly defines the China's tasks in IPR protection in 2006. It is a comprehensive, scientific and highly workable action plan with priorities, and therefore plays an important role in guiding China's IPR protection endeavor.
　　The Action Plan covers 4 major areas: trade mark, copyright, patent and import and export, which involve the IPR protection plans and arrangements of 11 departments, including the Ministry⁵ of Public Security, Ministry of Information Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture, Customs General Administration, State Administration of Industry and Commerce, Administration of Quality Inspection⁶, Supervision⁷ and Quarantine, Copyright Bureau, State Food and Drug Administration, State Intellectual Property Office, and Legislative⁸ Affairs Office of the State Council. The Action Plan covers 9 areas: legislation, law enforcement, mechanism⁹ building, propaganda, training and education, international communication and cooperation, promoting business self discipline, services to right holders¹⁰, and subject research. In line with the Action Plan, in 2006 China will draft, formulate³ and revise 17 laws, regulations, rules and measures relating to trademark¹¹, copyright, patent and customs protection, and draft, improve and revise 6 judicial¹² interpretations¹³. The IPR law enforcement efforts will include 7 dedicated¹⁴ campaigns such as the "Mountain Eagle", "Sunshine" and "Blue Sky", 8 regular enforcement initiatives and 20 specific measures. The government is going to establish a long standing¹⁵ mechanism constituting 11 parts, including a service center for reporting and complaining IPR violations¹⁶ and publicizing law enforcement statistics, and 18 specific measures. 7 approaches and 39 measures will be adopted to raise the general public's awareness¹⁷ of IPR protection. 21 IPR training programs will be organized under the Project of Training Thousands of IPR Personnel. The focus of IPR related international exchanges and cooperation will be on legislation, trade mark, copyright, patent and customs protection, which will be facilitated through 19 exchange and cooperation activities, out of which 7 will be between China and the US. With a view to improving enterprises' consciousness and awareness of IPR protection, 3 initiatives will be launched, including the convening¹⁸ of a conference on enterprises' IPR protection and proprietary¹⁹ innovation. 12 specific measures covering 9 areas will be put in place to better serve the right holders. Besides, countermeasure oriented research will be conducted in 5 fields to strengthen IPR protection