Message from Ambassador Clark T. Randt

The United States Government understands the scope and gravity of the continuing infringement of American Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in China and how significant a problem this infringement is for American industry.  Infringing products made in China find their way into markets around the world, compete with legitimate American goods, erode profit margins and undermine public confidence in established brands.

Our Interagency Mission . . . 

We in the United States Government are also aware of the efforts China is making to improve IPR protection and the difficulties its leaders face in this endeavor.  To help find solutions, we work closely with American industry and with our Chinese counterparts to address IPR issues.  A United States Government China Mission interagency task force, including American officers from the U.S. Department of State’s Economic Section, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Foreign Commercial Service and Trade Facilitation Office work together to implement a China Mission-wide IPR Action Plan. 

Our IPR Action Plan . . . 

The China Mission IPR Action Plan addresses both policy and practical issues, seeking to promote further engagement with the Chinese government on IPR issues as well as to guide American companies doing business in China.  This IPR Toolkit is one part of our Action Plan.  Other parts of our Action Plan include: continuing bilateral engagement, convening an annual IPR roundtable, IPR capacity building, and maintaining an IPR case database.

Bilateral and Multilateral Engagement . . .

The United States Government and the China Mission continuously engage with China on bilateral and multilateral IPR efforts.  My staff and I regularly deliver strong messages to the Chinese Government on a wide range of IPR issues.  By regularly and publicly raising these issues, we encourage China to honor its WTO TRIPS commitments and to create an IPR environment more conducive to international business.  Most recently, United States Government engagement on IPR during the July 2005 Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) meetings led China to announce comprehensive commitments on improved IPR enforcement, including: (1) increased transfer of administrative IPR cases for criminal prosecution; (2) improved national police coordination of IPR investigation and prosecution; (3) increased transfer of customs IPR cases for criminal prosecution; and (4) submission of a legislative package for accession to the WIPO Internet Treaties by June 2006.

Our Annual IPR Roundtable . . . 

In January 2005, continuing the ongoing dialogue between industry and government, we held our Third Annual Ambassador’s Roundtable on IPR in China, in which China’s Vice Premier Wu Yi and over 150 members of U.S. industry met with United States Government representatives to discuss IPR in China.  While American industry attending the Roundtable reported an increased willingness among Chinese national officials to improve IPR enforcement, industry also reported that most U.S. businesses in China still suffer from poor IPR enforcement.

Our Mission IPR Priorities . . . 

Reflecting industry’s concerns, the China Mission’s current IPR priorities include: (1) improving China’s criminal IPR enforcement system, specifically including effective implementation of the 2005 JCCT commitments on increased criminal IPR prosecution; (2) improving market access for American IPR products, and; (3) developing reliable IPR progress benchmarks that will better permit industry and the United Stated Government to evaluate Chinese progress on IPR.

I hope that you will find our IPR Toolkit helpful in better understanding the protection and enforcement of IPR in China. The Toolkit contains materials describing the scope of the IPR problem in China, suggestions on what American companies can do to protect their IPR and steps you should consider after an infringement comes to your attention.

I wish each and every one of you great success in all your business endeavors in China and assure you that the United States Government stands ready to assist you in any way that we can.

With kind regards, I am very truly yours,
 
 
 

                                                                                        Ambassador Clark T. Randt