EU firms bullish on China, intellectual property debated

The worldwide economic recession has had European Union businesses keenly eyeing China for continuing markets, and the EU’s Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) President Joerg Wuttke said European companies have a good reason to feel that way. Wuttke, speaking in Shanghai, said EU businesses still have confidence in China and won’t pull out or withdraw their investments because of the world’s economic woes. Meanwhile, he also met with officials from China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) to discuss the hot button issue of how China is trying to stop the open theft and peddling of everything from CDs to DVDs as well as garments and watches. “I am not seeing a single European company withdrawing from China because of the crisis,” Wuttke said. “It does not make sense that companies withdraw from a market of eight percent growth to other markets which may contract,” he said, according to a report in Shanghai Daily.
Some European firms are looking to raise their investment in China due to its improved economic outlook in a time when the country’s GDP grew by 8.9 percent in the third quarter, thanks to vibrant domestic consumption and steady investment. But he said China should do more to maintain its attractiveness as an investment destination for high technologies. Wuttke said some European companies are reluctant to bring the latest technologies to China because of the lack of protection of intellectual property rights. “China’s intellectual property laws are not bad. The problem is their implementation,” Wuttke said. One result of the poor execution of IPR laws is that companies don’t conduct “genuine” research and development in China, he said.
“Companies build R&D centers, but the focus is on development, not really on research,” Wuttke said. “For the research part, companies are more willing to transfer Chinese scientists elsewhere to guarantee IPR protection.” China needs to deal with excess production capacity in the country, he said. “Overcapacity in China will leave many oversupplied products to be exported, and this may lead to dumping charges,” Wuttke said.
He met separately with SIPO commissioner Tian Lipu, who introduced the work of his agency and the latest information of China’s Patent Law modification. Tian said that SIPO has just established the Protection and Coordination Department to be responsible for organizing and coordinating IPR protection nationwide. The State Council issued the Compendium on China National IP Strategy on 5 June, and will hold an IP joint conference in the near future to deploy the implementation of IP strategy. The modification draft of Patent Law has been submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People Congress for the first review. Meanwhile, SIPO has launched the work of modifying the Implementation Rules of the Patent Law. Tian noted that EUCCC and related enterprises’ detailed opinions and suggestions are welcomed, which can help further expand exchanges and communications and increase common ground.
Wuttke expressed his thanks to Tian for his friendly meeting, indicating that he is satisfied with China’s IPR prote­ction. He says that thanks to the “machine translation” system provided by SIPO, patentees can retrieve and confirm related information before application, facilitating EUCCC’s work. Regarding Patent Law modification, Wuttke expressed appreciation for what he called SIPO’s earnest attitude.