Stiffer penalties for violators under anti-piracy drive
Part of the campaign will specifically target the counterfeiting of luxury goods
A year-long anti-piracy campaign is to be launched to strengthen law enforcement with tougher penalties for violators, the central government said yesterday.
The campaign would target trademark, copyright and patent law violations in 15 provinces and municipalities including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, Vice-Minister of Commerce Zhang Zhigang said.
The battle against piracy will be fought through a newly established working group on intellectual property protection headed by Vice-Premier Wu Yi .
The special taskforce will pool officials from 12 ministries and departments including the General Administration of Customs, State Administration for Industry and Commerce and State Intellectual Property Office.
The working group aims to end the lack of communication between top government departments that has hit efforts to eliminate pirated goods.
'The legislation relating to intellectual property rights is complete and enforcement is conscientious. We still have weak points in the co-operation between administration and judicial institutions,' said Mr Zhang.
He said the focus of the new campaign would be on compact disc piracy and trademark violations, adding the laws were already in place, but that enforcement had been weak.
To add teeth to the crackdown, a new legal interpretation will be issued before the end of the year on the criminal laws regarding intellectual property protection with increased penalties for offenders.
In addition, officials yesterday said an agreement had been struck over leading foreign brand name fashion goods to stem the tide of counterfeiting in Beijing.
Li Dongsheng, vice-director of the State General Administration for Industry and Commerce, said the government would crack down on high-end counterfeits carrying the labels of luxury brands.
Sales of these companies' goods would only be permitted in their Beijing chain stores, he said.
'Regardless of providing genuine goods or counterfeits, vendors who sell luxury brand names might face criminal charges for intellectual property violation,' Mr Li said.
'If you really want to buy those luxuries in Beijing, you need to go to the chain stores,' he said, referring specifically to Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Givenchy and Fendi.
Yesterday, however, Beijing's Silk Market was conducting a roaring trade in copies of top brand names, including Chanel, Samsonite, Mont Blanc, Ralph Lauren and Gucci.
Warned of the arrival of police officers, vendors quickly hid cases containing counterfeit watches, but left an array of counterfeit clothing and bags out for hundreds of shoppers to view.
The blatant display of pirated goods is a sign of the challenge the working group will have as it struggles to eradicate counterfeit goods on the mainland.
Protection of intellectual property is a major sticking point between China and the United States. In April, during a summit with US officials, Beijing promised to eliminate counterfeits.
