New legal platform for intellectual property in China

Beijing, 9 July 2009 – Senior Officials from the Ministry of Commerce, the Delegation of the European Commission to China together with senior academics from Peking University inaugurated a new platform of laws and regulations related to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property in China.

'China IP Law Search' is a free-of-charge search tool designed to help users find and access legal resources on the current legislative framework of intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement in China. Business associations, companies, lawyers, academics, students and IP authorities gathered in the Shou Ren International Conference Centre at Peking University, where the University's Institute for International Intellectual Property (IIPP) was inaugurated in December 2008, to learn how China IP law Search could contribute to their daily work.

China IP Law Search enables users to search legal texts in the key areas of IP including Patent Law, Trademark Law, Copyright Law, customs protection, dissemination of information on the internet, new plant varieties and unfair competition.

Ms Wang Yang from the Ministry of Commerce cited China IP Law Search as an example of the close co-operation between China and Europe in IP protection and explained that "China IP Law Search is part of an objective by the Ministry of Commerce to provide widespread public access to IP-related information both in English and Chinese."

Mr Rudie Filon from the European Commission Delegation to China confirmed the potentially widespread use of the tool, "China IP Law Search aims to provide for the first time a comprehensive, bilingual collection of legal references immediately relevant to intellectual property in China. It will be a valuable support to anyone working, studying or simply interested in the Chinese IP environment." It is foreseen to develop a similar bilingual platform for European IP-related laws.

China IP Law Search an initiative of the EU-China IPR2 Project in co-operation with China International Electronic Commerce Centre (CIECC), the organisers of China's primary IP information platform 'Intellectual Property Protection in China' www.ipr.gov.cn.

The EU-China IPR2 Project is a partnership initiative launched in 2007 between the European Union and China on the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). With more than EUR16 million in joint funding over 4 years to 2011, IPR2 aims to strengthen the enforcement of IPR by targeting the reliability, efficiency and accessibility of the IP protection system in China. This is done by closely co-operating with and providing technical support to the different levels of the Chinese legislative, judicial, administrative and enforcement authorities.