US accusation of China IP theft unfounded
By Zhong Sheng
After Washington
announced that it will impose additional 10 percent tariffs on $300 billion of
Chinese imports, some people in the US have again harped on the same old string
by criticizing China for stealing US intellectual properties.
As a developing
country, China has made rapid progress in intellectual property rights (IPR)
protection and is highly praised by the international community in this
respect.
Francis Gurry,
Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),
pointed out that the high-level IPR protection system established by China is
conducive to the global promotion of the intellectual property system.
The 2018
International Property Rights Index released by the US Chamber of Commerce's
Global Intellectual Property Center not only upgraded China's ranking by two
places, but also gave positive comments to China's effective patents and
copyrights reform, the importance governments and law enforcement agencies laid
on intellectual property, and the improving intellectual property awareness and
the rising capability of research institutions and individuals to apply
intellectual property.
No country is
perfect at protecting IPR. Even the US, which claims that it leads the world in
building a complete legal system for IPR and intensifying efforts to protect
IPR, sees a considerable number of intellectual property lawsuits filed between
market entities.
The legal
environment for IPR protection in China is maturing, which has been
acknowledged by foreign companies when they seek legal support and protection
in the country. China’s scheme of achieving strict, widespread, fast and equal
IPR protection has been applauded by both Chinese the foreigners.
In the past five
years, the number of patent applications that China has received from overseas
has increased by 3.1 percent per year on average and the number of trademark
applications by 10.3 percent, reaching 650,000 and 840,000 respectively.
More and more
foreign companies chose to have IPR disputes solved in China, thanks to the
country’s judicial fairness and transparency, according to British media.
China has become
a "preferred" land for multinational corporations to launch
intellectual property litigation because it saves more time and cost to fight a
lawsuit in China than in the US, American media said.
The tremendous
progress China has made in scientific and technological innovation is
attributed to decades of research and efforts of Chinese scientists, who independently
developed atomic and hydrogen bombs and a man-made satellite under extremely difficult
circumstances, synthesized crystalline bovine insulin, and refined
artemisinin.
Today, China's
investment in science and technology ranks the second in the world. The country
owns a large number of professional scientific research personnel, and its technological
innovation is transitioning from quantitative to qualitative growth.
Last year,
China's research and experimental development spending reached 2 trillion yuan
($284 billion), accounting for 2.18% of GDP. Chinese tech firm Huawei’s R&D
investment was $15 billion to $20 billion. In 2017, China ranked the first in
the world regarding the number of intellectual property applications filed,
which is the best proof of the effectiveness of China's scientific research.
Clamoring for
the so-called "intellectual property theft" of China, some people in
the US have exposed their “selective blindness” to China’s progress in
intellectual property protection, showing devastating disregard for China's
independent innovation capability.
They believe that
only by “stealing” US intellectual property rights can China have the
opportunity to achieve such great achievements in technological innovation.
However, the fact is that China has more and more technological innovations
that the US does not have, smashing such rumors again and again.
China has both
the ability to create intellectual property rights and the determination and
actions to protect them. The fact that more and more multinational companies
have built regional headquarters and R&D centers in China is the most
convincing proof.
(Zhong Sheng is
a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign
policy.)
US accusation of China IP theft unfounded
Reviewed by PEOPLES MAIL
on
12:16
Rating:
No comments: