Business and Human Rights
The Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court found the corporate landlord of the Xiushui Market in Beijing liable for trademark infringement on December 20, 2005, due to sales of counterfeit goods by five tenants within the market, according to a January 4 Bloomberg article and a January 6 Voice of America story (in Chinese). In September 2005, Chanel SA, Prada Holding NV, Burberry Group Plc, LVMH Moet Hennessy, Louis Vuitton SA, and PPR SA's Gucci unit, all luxury goods makers based outside China, brought the suit against Beijing Xiushui Haosen Clothing Market Co., the landlord of the Xiushui Market, as well as five tenants. The court found both the landlord and tenants liable for infringement.
The Jingbian County People's Court in Yulin city, Shaanxi province, has sentenced private investor Feng Bingxian to three years imprisonment for "gathering a crowd to disturb public order," a crime under Article 291 (amended in December 2001) of the Criminal Law, according to a January 5 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report. The court identified Feng as the principal leader and organizer of a group of private investors whose oil fields the municipal governments of Yulin and Yanan seized in 2003.
The local procuratorate in Jingbian county, Shaanxi province, has indicted Feng Bingxian and three other oil investors for "gathering a crowd to disturb public order," a crime under Article 291 (amended in December 2001) of China's Criminal Law, according to an October 27 report by the Voice of America (VOA). Local officials released Feng Xiaoyuan, Kong Yuming, and Wang Shijun on bail, but have kept Feng Bingxian in detention. Feng's son formally retained Beijing lawyer Mo Shaoping to assist in the criminal defense.
The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) issued the Measures for Carrying Out Compulsory Licensing of Patents on Issues Involving Public Health on November 29. The Measures permit government ministries to apply to SIPO for a compulsory license for patented pharmaceutical products that treat or prevent AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or other infectious diseases. In addition, WTO member governments that lack the capacity to produce sufficient quantities of these pharmaceuticals, or non-WTO members that are classified as “least developed countries,” may request that SIPO grant a compulsory license to produce these products in China, provided they are exported only to the requesting country.
Chinese trade officials told an October 25-28 World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting that the National People's Congress (NPC) has "no plans to amend the Criminal Code or other IP laws at this moment, although in-depth research and study in this field would continue," according to the WTO's official record of the meeting released on November 21. The comments responded to the written submissions of other WTO members that questioned the adequacy of the provisions of the Criminal Law that define intellectual property rights (IPR) offenses. The exchange was part of the fourth annual WTO Transitional Review Mechanism (TRM), which the WTO's Council on Trade Related Aspects of IPR conducted in late October.
Officials in Changzhou city, Jiangsu province, announced in November that the city government would no longer enforce regulatory documents [guifanxing wenjian] that have not been published first in the local newspaper, the government's gazette, or another publication specified by the city government, according to a December 8 article (in Chinese) in the Legal Daily. The new policy is consistent with the key WTO principle of transparency.
The China Bank Regulatory Commission (CBRC) announced (in Chinese) on December 5 that foreign banks may apply to conduct local currency business in the cities of Shantou, Ningbo, Harbin, Changsha, Lanzhou, Yingzhou, and Nanning. The State Council Information Office published the CBRC announcement.
Li Yizhong, Minister of the General Administration of Work Safety (GAWS), commented that the Chinese government should implement stricter safety standards for coal mines and a regularized process of mine inspections, according to a November 15 Legal Daily report. Li led an inspection tour of coal mines in Hunan province, one of nine province-wide inspections of unsafe mines that the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, a unit of GAWS, conducted in November.
State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) officials postponed all new construction projects in Jiaozuo city, Henan province, after investigations revealed that official negligence allowed pollution from an illegal electrolytic lead factory to poison hundreds of children in Mafang district, Jiaozuo, according to an October 24 21st Century Business Herald report, an October 19 China Daily report, and an October 18 SEPA press release.
Automakers GM Daewoo and Chery Automotive have settled a contentious intellectual property lawsuit, according to a November 18 Associated Press report (via Forbes) and a similar Xinhua account (in Chinese) dated the same day. GM Daewoo is a Korea-based subsidiary of General Motors Corporation, and Chery is a Chinese domestic automaker. GM Daewoo alleged that an automobile model manufactured by Chery was an exact copy of a GM Daewoo model.