Chinese Statistics Show More IPR Criminal Enforcement in First Half of 2005

August 30, 2005

The Chinese government released statistics for the first half of 2005 showing that People's Courts at all levels have accepted 1,549 cases related to IPR violations from the manufacture and sale of products. That figure represents an increase of 25.53 percent over the first half of 2004. Officials completed 1,330 investigations, an increase of 22.83 percent over the same period in 2004.

The Chinese government released statistics for the first half of 2005 showing that People's Courts at all levels have accepted 1,549 cases related to IPR violations from the manufacture and sale of products. That figure represents an increase of 25.53 percent over the first half of 2004. Officials completed 1,330 investigations, an increase of 22.83 percent over the same period in 2004. This article (in Chinese) attributes the increase in part to the implementation of the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate "Interpretation Concerning Certain Questions of Using the Criminal Law to Handle Violations of Intellectual Property Rights" (in English and in Chinese). According to another article (in Chinese), however, the number of administrative cases transferred for criminal enforcement remains low: 266 in the first half of the year, although this number is 24.8 percent higher than the total during the same period last year. The courts have disposed of 83 of the cases transferred in 2005, an increase of only 2.4 percent over the same period in 2004.

The statistics for criminal intellectual property rights enforcement cited include cases other than those brought under Articles 213-20 of the Criminal Law, which criminalize specific types of intellectual property rights violations. The statistics include cases transferred for criminal enforcement because of the danger that fake goods caused the public (cases prosecuted under Articles 140-150 of the Criminal Law, including cases of fake medicines or defective medical equipment). In addition, the statistics reflect cases brought under Article 225 of the Criminal Law, which criminalizes illegal business operations, activities that include more than intellectual property rights violations. For example, Chinese authorities prosecute individuals under Article 225 for engaging in any type of publishing without government authorization, even when no intellectual property rights issues are involved. According to the articles cited above, these statistics only include those illegal business operations cases that involve intellectual property rights.

The statistics do not indicate whether a similar increase in cases has occurred for violations of foreign copyrights and trademarks.