Remarks by Ambassador Jon Huntsman at Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Dialogue
Ambassador Jon Huntsman speaks at IPR Dialogue
Remarks by Ambassador Jon Huntsman
at Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Dialogue
November 10, 2010
AMBASSADOR HUNTSMAN: Thank you, Frank. Thank you for your organization's support. We're very grateful to you, we're very grateful to Pharma, we're grateful to so many others who have taken their time to come to this very important dialogue, not a monologue, it's a dialogue, which I think means something very different to all of you here. It is a terrific honor and privilege to have [Commerce] Minister Chen Deming here. We're truly honored by your presence, Sir. Having the U.S. Ambassador here only gives it a certain level of respectability and dignity, having my colleagues from France, Canada and Germany knocks it up a little bit, but having Minister Chen here takes it all the way to the top. So we're very very grateful for that.
And I want to thank [State Intellectual Property Office] Commissioner Tian and [State Administration for Industry and Commerce] Vice Minister Fu, [National Copyright Association of China Vice] Minister Yan and [Consultant] Director [for State Food and Drug Administration] Jin all of whom have participated in one form or fashion earlier today for the very frank and detailed discussions that many were able to participate in. This isn't about talking past one another, this is about how we can better coordinate and identify our best practices and solutions going forward. So, I'm most grateful for our organizers, my colleagues at the U.S. Embassy, for the role that they have played; we're just honored and delighted to be here.
Now, I have to say right out of the bat, that when you talk about IPR, when you talk about patents, trademarks and copyrights, it has a very deep and respectful place in American history. You see, it wasn't long after our nation became an independent nation state, that a man by the name of Benjamin Franklin, Nancy is here from the appropriate office, she can tell me if this is wrong; I think it was in the year 1792, Nancy? that Benjamin Franklin created the Office of Patent and Trade Marks, now out of the U.S. Commerce Department. So, right from the very beginning of our country this had a very respectful place in our bureaucracy and we're still trying to get it right. And from the Department of Commerce here today, we are so honored and delighted to have our Assistant Secretary and the Director General of the Foreign Commercial Service, Mr. Suresh Kumar, who is here with us as well. I say he has the best title in Government because he has two titles; he gets Assistant Secretary and also Director General. But, we just call him General for short.
Now, this IPR dialogue is basically a challenge. Can we find ways to work together to stop IPR violations and protect our economic gains? Can we develop a game plan that creates strong productive relationships between our officials and our businesses, and helps connect our innovators to our consumers? I think the answer is yes. Over the past 12 months we've seen economies from around the world emerging from the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Innovation, whether that occurs in Chicago or Xian is the clearest and most direct route back to new jobs and bigger economies. Pick any one of the major issues confronting us today; from the environment, to security, to public health, biotechnology, clean energy. On anyone, innovative new technologies are a part of the solution. I actually think that this is an area of Commerce and Law, Enforcement and Governance that we can make a positive aspect of the U.S.-China relationship. You see, ten or fifteen years ago, IPR protection didn't have much traction here in China because most people saw it as something only U.S. or foreign companies really needed. Those days are gone. Not any more. One of the things that surprised me most in my return to Asia is the level of sophistication and dynamism of China's private sector and entrepreneurs. Now it's Chinese companies, and Chinese ideas that are creating new breakthroughs and new innovation. Not surprisingly, with billions of dollars on the line, these industry leaders, some of whom are represented here today, are starting to pay attention to IPR issues.
So, the need for better IP protection and enforcement is obvious. It's obvious from a technical perspective where we need to encourage innovation. It's obvious from a business perspective, where we want to protect our profits. And, it's obvious from a government perspective, where we need to expand our economy and serve our constituents. We know China has been making progress on all fronts and we are very grateful.
Second, we talk a lot about the shortcomings in protecting and enforcing IPR. But, missing still is a real consensus on how to measure those short comings, what are the real costs of them, and how to know weather we're actually making progress in the field. I challenge all of us to work together to establish certain benchmarks. One, to define the scope of the problem; two, to quantify what the lack of strong IPR protection costs China in terms of lost commercial activity and innovation; and three, to establish a baseline to measure our progress in improving IPR protection. Only with these clear measurements can we truly tell our respective leaders that we are indeed making progress meaningful to our respective peoples.
Practically speaking, how can we go about meeting all of these challenges? I've got a few suggestions: number one, we need to form some kind of business to business IPR liaison group that meets regularly to develop solutions, to find practical ways to address IPR protection and enforcement. We can start out at the National level perhaps with the support of the Chambers of Commerce and Chinese counterpart associations. And make it a first priority to establish an action plan. At the same time, we should seek to take the show on the road, making it a mission to establish similar liaison groups in a series of key cities around the country by the end of 2011. I know this can be done. We helped to kick off one such effort, earlier this year in Shenzhen. Second, we should establish a study group of Chinese, U.S. and third country academics and industry representatives to develop a set of mutually agreed upon benchmarks that can be used to define the challenges we're up against, its costs and our progress over time. In doing so, we can avoid resorting to finger pointing and quibbling over whose statistics are right or wrong, and instead look forward to finding ways to truly move this dialogue forward based on those recognized benchmarks. Third, lets genuinely work together to see how we might help the public better understand what is in it for them. It may seem logical for many to get something for a fraction of what the genuine product may cost, but when doing so means lost job opportunities, lost tax revenue and in some cases even lost lives. Then the equation changes in most people's minds.
I understand, for example, that Shanghai has a program in its schools to teach children about intellectual property. Perhaps this is something that can be duplicated elsewhere, like some of the other best practices about which we have talked and heard spoken of today.
So, I salute the exchange that is going on here today and encourage this dialogue to continue. I want our discussion today to be a starting point not a one off event. I will be asking our great staff at the U.S. Embassy to move forward on the areas we have discussed and developed throughout our discussion here today. Working with the American Chamber, Industry Associations here today and all of you, we will be looking to insure that we move forward with a real work plan to help support a new era in IPR protection in China. We owe it to our countries to find a way to turn this issue into one that shows the best of what we can achieve when we really put our minds together to tackle a challenge.
Finally, let me just say, I think our work here today brings about the best in what I've often termed in U.S. and China collaboration, one that always requires a bit of huxiang bang mang, huxiang xuexi, gongtong jinbu (help each other and study together so we can move forward together).