The Chinese Year of the Rabbit marks the fourth and final year of the China-EU Project on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR2). On March 30, the Ministry of Commerce of P.R. China and the European Union Delegation in Beijing endorsed a new set of activities for the final phase of IPR2 – from April to September 2011 – which involves 35 different domains covering the major parts of China IP system.

 

The 4th Annual Work Plan (AW4) sets its theme as “consolidating outputs, sharing results, optimizing sustainability,” targeting the main elements of the Chinese IP system and associated horizontal issues under the Project’s six working components: legal framework, capacity-building, access to information, enforcement, support to rights holders and trademarks and designs. It is built around training programs, study tours to Europe, workshops, e-learning modules, seminars, expert exchanges, long-term training programs, studies, compilation of cases and other publications.

 

Compared with the AW3 of last year, the epilogue AW4 places particular emphasis on the consolidation, evaluation and sharing of outputs, with five more domains involved.

 

Carlo Pandolfi, head of the EU China IPR2 technical assistance team confirmed, “The closing phase of IPR2 will work to leverage the many outputs achieved from the close cooperation between Chinese IP authorities and the Project. Specifically, consolidating materials and expertise built up over the life of the Project, with the objective of making them readily available to all stakeholders.”

 

IPR2 work plans aim to practically address both EU’s and China’s strategic priorities and achieve practical and measurable results; and simultaneously providing sufficient flexibility to satisfy the stakeholders and show developments in the evolving field of IP.

 

According to Tamryn, PR officer of the IPR2 technical assistance team, the final phase of IPR2 will continue with the following works:

 

1. Supporting government officials, experts and the entire profession to exchange ideas on common concerns such as the revision of China’s IP Laws, especially the Trademark Law;

 

2. Enhancing the institutional capacity of local Chinese IP offices and enforcement assistance centers in handling IP cases with systematic training;

 

3. Providing necessary aids for the EU China IPR Customs Action Plan and the Geographical Indication (GI) protection;

 

4. Reinforcing international cooperation on civil and criminal procedures, particularly against on-line piracy and counterfeiting;

 

5. Strengthening the judicial protection of IP rights. Moreover, AW4 concentrates its resources on influence evaluation to guarantee the output of the project and the sustainability of the input from the Chinese IP authorities, academia and IP industry professionals. This involves a comprehensive review of the project outputs, such as core legislative improvement on patent, copyright, competition and trademark, amelioration on administrative, civil and criminal enforcement, and helping the rights holders realize that intellectual properties could be used as a strategic tool in business.

 

Currently, a series of IPR2 activities are in the process in accordance with AW4, including the China-EU “creative and cultural industries” and “trade secrets” media workshop, as well as the long-term training for Chinese officials on European IP law and similar projects. These activities reflect all the work completed from the start of the project. The extent, quantity, and final results also document the accomplishments achieved through the China-EU cooperation in IP protection.