China dominant in Sino-U.S. IPR disputes, MOFCOM

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) disclosed on October 13, the World Trade Organization has made a decision on IPR issues against China filed by the U.S. government. In all three appeals, only one has got the support from the WTO.

In 2007, U.S. complained against China at the World Trade Organization over three claims: the discrepancy between China's existing laws and regulations on IPR protection and its commitment to the WTO; the lack of punishment in China on counterfeit and pirated products for commercial use and being short of criminal sanction procedure; letting infringed goods enter into commercial circulation channel and disobeying Articles 46 and 59 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

Lately, a special WTO dispute panel agreed to the first claim.