Per reporter: Zhang Huaishui
"No matter how the international situation changes, we must unswervingly do our own things, constantly strengthen the economic foundation, and enhance the ability of scientific and technological innovation..." The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year pointed out the direction for the mainland's recent economic development.
When it comes to scientific and technological innovation, we have to mention the protection of intellectual property rights. As an important institutional guarantee for optimizing the business environment and promoting scientific and technological innovation, intellectual property protection has been mentioned in many blockbuster conferences and top-level design documents in recent years.
The 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Outline of Long-term Goals for 2035 devote a section to elaborating on the improvement of the system for the protection and application of intellectual property rights. The Central Economic Work Conference also made it clear that "strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights and create a good environment for enterprises of all types of ownership to compete for development." ”
In recent years, the mainland's intellectual property cause has made historic achievements, which have strongly supported economic and social development. However, at the same time, there are still some weak links and problems that need to be solved urgently, which restrict the full play of the role of intellectual property rights in protecting innovation and stimulating creativity.
At present, what are the weak links in the protection of intellectual property rights in mainland China? What other ways and targets do we have to further improve the construction of the legal system for intellectual property protection? With the development of Internet technology, how to solve the problem of cross-border e-commerce rights protection?
In response to the above questions, during the two sessions of the National People's Congress this year, the Daily Economic News (hereinafter referred to as the NBD) reporter interviewed Ma Zhengqi, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former deputy director of the State Administration of Market Regulation.
The pattern of integrated protection of intellectual property rights has been formed
NBD: During this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, "one pier is difficult to find" reflects the great progress in China's intellectual property protection. You have stressed that the protection of the whole chain of intellectual property rights cannot be ambiguous. How to understand the whole chain protection? How has the mainland done in the protection of the whole chain of intellectual property rights?
Ma Zhengqi: Intellectual property protection is a systematic project involving many links and different fields. In terms of links, the application for the creation of intellectual property rights, the examination and confirmation of rights, the use of the market, the regulation of monopoly and unfair competition, the protection of consumer rights and interests, etc., include not only the market behavior of enterprises, but also the administrative and judicial acts of administrative departments and judicial departments, as well as the choices of the general public.
In terms of fields, it involves different kinds of intellectual property rights such as trademarks, patents, and copyrights. In recent years, the creation of intellectual property rights in the mainland has ranked first in the world for many years, and the international influence of intellectual property rights such as trademarks and patents has been continuously enhanced. The coordination and linkage mechanism between intellectual property administrative protection and judicial protection has been continuously improved, the system of intellectual property arbitration, mediation, notarization, appraisal and rights protection assistance has been continuously improved, the construction of intellectual property credit supervision mechanisms and platforms has been continuously promoted, and the pattern of integrated protection of trademarks, patents, copyrights and other types of intellectual property rights has taken shape.
The mainland has made very obvious progress in the protection of the whole chain of intellectual property rights, and a unified leadership, smooth connection, fast and efficient intellectual property protection model has basically taken shape. This also leads me to believe that a situation similar to the "difficult to find" situation of ice piers will become the "new normal" of China's intellectual property protection in the near future.
In recent years, the mainland has significantly increased its financial expenditure on intellectual property rights, and the cause of intellectual property protection has developed by leaps and bounds
NBD: Last year's Central Economic Work Conference mentioned intellectual property protection again, at present, what are the weak links in China's intellectual property protection? How to make up for the shortcomings?
Ma Zhengqi: In recent years, the mainland's intellectual property cause has made historic achievements, which have strongly supported economic and social development. However, it should be noted that there are still some weak links and problems to be solved in the field of intellectual property rights, which restrict the full play of the role of intellectual property rights in protecting innovation and stimulating creativity, and are not conducive to promoting the construction of a new development pattern.
Specifically, for example, the laws and regulations related to intellectual property rights still need to be further improved; there are still phenomena in the field of intellectual property rights that are prone to frequent infringement, easy infringement, and difficulty in safeguarding rights; the coordination between administrative law enforcement organs and judicial organs needs to be further strengthened; the protection of intellectual property rights by mainland enterprises overseas is not in place and the ability to deal with disputes is limited; and the public's awareness and quality of intellectual property rights are relatively lacking.
This requires further strengthening the top-level system design of intellectual property protection, further improving the intellectual property laws and regulations, further strengthening the administrative law enforcement of intellectual property rights, further improving the awareness of social intellectual property rights, and further strengthening international cooperation in intellectual property protection.
Promote the unification of administrative law enforcement standards and judicial adjudication standards
NBD: What are the specific starting points and targets for the protection of intellectual property rights in the mainland to further improve the construction of laws and regulations?
Ma Zhengqi: Further improving the intellectual property regulatory system is an important aspect of further improving the efficiency of intellectual property protection. This requires us to constantly adjust and improve the relevant institutional rules according to the direction of economic and social development and the concerns of the people. It is necessary to pay attention to the intellectual property issues brought about by the development of the Internet that are globalized and the frontier of the world, and accelerate the revision of the Patent Law, the Trademark Law, the Copyright Law, the Anti-Monopoly Law, and the Science and Technology Progress Law in view of data security, data ownership, and intellectual property matters in data transactions.
It is necessary to further improve the system and regulations of trademarks, patents, copyrights and other related intellectual property rights in accordance with the people's demand for food, clothing, housing, old-age care, education and medical care, standardize the behavior of the market and enterprises, guide the healthy development of the industry, and better serve the needs of the masses.
It is necessary to further improve the judicial adjudication system of intellectual property rights, upgrade some intellectual property courts to intellectual property courts as appropriate, and on this basis promote the "three-in-one" trial model of administrative, civil and criminal, promote the unification of administrative law enforcement standards and judicial adjudication standards of intellectual property rights, improve the linkage mechanism between administrative law enforcement and justice, and improve the quality and efficiency of intellectual property adjudication.
NBD: In recent years, China has made remarkable achievements in improving the construction of the intellectual property protection system, but there are also views that there is a lack of law enforcement.
Ma Zhengqi: In terms of strengthening the administrative law enforcement of intellectual property rights, I think it is necessary to explore the construction of a unified national information-based law enforcement platform and gradually form a model of "handling small cases online and investigating large cases offline". Strengthen cross-departmental and cross-regional enforcement linkages of intellectual property rights, and formulate an overall cross-regional administrative collaborative enforcement process.
For serious and extraordinarily serious infringement cases, investigate and deal with them strictly and quickly, and regularly expose typical cases, forming a law enforcement deterrent against all kinds of infringement and illegal acts. Strengthen the effectiveness of credit supervision and management measures, include enterprises infringing intellectual property rights in the "blacklist", strengthen disciplinary measures for untrustworthiness, and increase the intensity of joint disciplinary action for infringement and violations.
In recent years, the number of patents granted in mainland China has increased rapidly, and the public's awareness of intellectual property protection has gradually increased
Complete overseas rights protection support institutions and operational mechanisms
NBD: At present, China's cross-border e-commerce is developing rapidly, and some merchants have reported that cross-border e-commerce still has the problem of difficulty in safeguarding rights, especially cross-border rights protection. How do you think we should solve the problem of cross-border rights protection of online e-commerce?
Ma Zhengqi: The problem of difficulties in protecting intellectual property rights of online cross-border e-commerce does exist, and there are many reasons. There are not only unconscious infringement problems caused by mainland enterprises not being familiar with international rules and foreign laws, but also the problem of non-implementation of the responsibilities of relevant platform enterprises, as well as complex legal disputes caused by inconsistencies in the institutional rules of intellectual property rights between the mainland and foreign countries.
I believe that to solve these problems, we need to make comprehensive policies and multi-party efforts, and enterprises, platforms, governments, etc. must work together to solve the problems. Relevant enterprises should strengthen the study and understanding of international and domestic laws and regulations and trade rules, and lay out and improve intellectual property rights such as trademarks, patents and copyrights as soon as possible, so as to reduce the rights protection problems caused by their own reasons. Platform enterprises should fulfill their obligations to review compliance and issue prompt reminders in a timely manner to help enterprises reduce intellectual property disputes.
Government departments should actively participate in the formulation of international intellectual property rules, carry out negotiations and consultations on intellectual property chapters of peripheral, small multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements, improve overseas rights protection support institutions and operating mechanisms, and help enterprises better cope with various complex situations.
In 2020, the mainland has leapt to become the largest country in the global PCT (that is, the Patent Cooperation Treaty), filing international patent applications through the PCT channel, and applying for patents to many countries), but the phenomenon of enterprises protecting their rights overseas still exists
NBD: Since January 1 this year, the RCEP has come into effect, and While China has docked high-standard international economic and trade rules, it has also put forward higher requirements for intellectual property protection. How to further improve the inter-transnational IP protection mechanism?
Ma Zhengqi: Strengthening international cooperation in intellectual property rights is the basic requirement for the mainland to build a new development pattern of double circulation and continuously expand opening up to the outside world, and it is also an important aspect of the mainland's docking of international economic and trade rules. It is necessary to give full play to the important role of the mainland in international organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and actively participate in the formulation of international intellectual property rules.
I believe that it is necessary to further strengthen the comparative study of the strategic dynamics of intellectual property protection in the United States, the European Union and other developed countries and regions, the legal system system, and the protection of intellectual property rights in foreign trade, and learn from the useful experiences. Strengthen intellectual property exchanges and cooperation with key countries such as the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, and manage the transfer of intellectual property rights involving national security in accordance with the law.
In addition, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of the national overseas intellectual property dispute response guidance center, and provide enterprises with public welfare services such as overseas intellectual property dispute information consultation and response guidance. Vigorously carry out training for foreign-related intellectual property talents, and cultivate a group of high-level foreign-related talents who are proficient in domestic and foreign intellectual property laws and regulations and have strong practical ability in intellectual property protection.
Reporter's Note丨 "A Pier Is Hard to Find" Will Become the "New Normal" of China's Intellectual Property Protection
As an important institutional guarantee for optimizing the business environment and promoting scientific and technological innovation, intellectual property protection has been mentioned in many blockbuster conferences and top-level design documents in recent years. The phenomenon of "one pier is difficult to find" during this year's Winter Olympics once again highlighted the significant progress made by China in the protection of the whole chain of intellectual property rights.
At the same time, we should also be aware that there are still some weak links and urgent problems in the field of intellectual property rights in the mainland, especially the relevant laws and regulations need to be further improved. Next, it is necessary to further strengthen the top-level system design of intellectual property protection, so that "one pier is difficult to find" has become the "new normal" of China's intellectual property protection.
Reporter: Zhang Huaishui
Editor: Chen Xing
Vision: Chen Guanyu
Typesetting: Chen Xing, Ma Yuan
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