INTRODUCTORY Message from THE U.S. EMBASSY

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, often endanger consumer safety, 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 its IPR environment and the challenges 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 Market Access and Compliance 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, 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.  The U.S. Embassy’s staff 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.  We continue vigorous engagement and formal discussions on IPR through a number of bilateral channels, including the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), including a specific JCCT IPR Working Group, co-chaired by U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Patent Trademark Office, engaged in ongoing policy and technical discussions with a range of Chinese IPR agencies on issues of concern to rights holders. 


Our Mission IPR Priorities . . . 

Reflecting industry’s concerns, the China Mission’s current IPR priorities include: (1) supporting efforts to improve China’s inadequate enforcement system; (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.

We 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.

We 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.