『Policy&Legislation』政策法规

1.   1. State Council Announces Major Tasks in Crackdown on IP Infringements in 2017

国办印发2017年打击侵犯知识产权工作要点

Recently, the General Office of the State Council has issued the Major Tasks in Nationwide Crackdown on Intellectual Property (IP) Infringements and Production and Sale of Counterfeit and Shoddy Goods in 2017 (the "Major Tasks").

The Major Tasks put forward 31 specific measures in eight aspects, including continuously pushing ahead with the cleaning-up actions in key fields, making greater efforts in routine regulation of the quality of merchandises, and stepping up efforts to crack down on IP infringements. The Major Tasks call for strengthening online trade management to tighten the record-filing-based administration of trading rules of online retail third parties, and intensifying the fight against online infringement and piracy to tighten the repost and use of news articles; also, efforts will be further stepped up in patent law-enforcement and case-handling, with focuses laid on fields relating to people's life and high technologies, such as food, drugs, medical devices and environmental protection; and other actions will be taken to better protect well-known trademarks, geographical indications, foreign-related trademarks and time-honored trademarks, and coordinate investigations launched to crack down on serious counterfeits and infringements. Furthermore, the Major Tasks propose to drive ahead the formulation and revision of the Anti-fair Competition Law, the Copyright Law, the Patent Law, the Implementing Regulations for the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, and other relevant laws and regulations. [Provided by LexisNexis China]

2. Special Action Plan for the Network Market Supervision in 2017 Issued

十部门印发2017网络市场监管专项行动方案

Recently, ten authorities including the State Administration for Industry and Commerce have issued the Special Action Plan for the Network Market Supervision in 2017 (the "Plan").

In the upcoming six months, ten departments will severely crack down upon a series of illegalities and violations, such as maliciously registering accounts on the network, making false deals to hype up the credit record, giving false comments, divulging and selling users' personal information, posting and delivering an empty parcel in collusion with others, committing fraud on the internet, carrying out pyramid selling activities on the internet, and pressing for payment of debt on the internet, according to the Plan. With regard to infringements and counterfeits, the Plan clearly states that efforts will be stepped up to probe into the acts of selling counterfeits of high-profile branded and foreign branded goods and misusing and illegally using or forging geographical trademarks of agricultural products, crack down on the infringements of time-honored intellectual properties, production and sales of counterfeits and shoddy goods labelled with time-honored brands, and other illegal practices. To fight against the false and illegal advertisements, the Plan calls for strengthening the monitoring of internet advertisements, and imposing stricter regulation and law enforcement against advertisements relating to the healthcare services, drugs, foods, dietary supplements, collection for investment purposes and other key fields. Moreover, the Plan stresses future efforts to urge network trading platform operators to improve their own internal credit management and monitor in a more effective manner practices of making false transactions to hype up the credit record. [Provided by LexisNexis China]

4.   3. SAIC Makes Arrangements to Further Implement the Trademark and Brand Strategy

工商总局部署深入实施商标品牌战略

Recently, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ("SAIC") has distributed the Opinions on Further Implementing the Trademark and Brand Strategy and Promoting the Development of Chinese Brands (the "Opinions").

The Opinions make arrangements from several perspectives, such as deepening the reform in the administrative system for trademark registrations, earnestly enhancing administrative protection of registered trademarks, developing a brand development service system in all aspects, driving ahead the development of industrial and regional brands in an overall manner, and vigorously enlarging brands' development potentials in the globe. According to the Opinions, efforts will be made in the future to push forward the facilitation of trademark registration constantly, broaden the trademark application channels persistently, increase the number of windows accepting trademark applications by local administrations, endeavor to promote trademark applications filed through the internet, strengthen the development of the trademark registration system and mechanism, and advance the pilot program of trademark examination cooperation centers outside Beijing. The Opinions also note that efforts will be stepped up to provide administrative protection of trademarks, with a focus on well-known trademarks, geographical indications, foreign-related trademarks, and time-honored registered trademarks; moreover, trademark credit regulation will be tightened, and such information as administrative sanctions on acts of infringing and passing off others' trademarks, and illegally serving as the agent for trademarks, will be incorporated into the national system for corporate credit information publicity, so as to form a coordinated regulation and joint punishment on dishonest acts concerning trademarks. [Provided by LexisNexis China]

2.   4. SIPO Issues the 2017 Work Plan on the Dissemination and Utilization of Patent Information in China

国知局印发2017年度全国专利信息传播利用工作计划

Recently, the State Intellectual Property Office ("SIPO") has formulated and issued the Work Plan on the Dissemination and Utilization of Patent Information in China for the Year 2017 (the "Plan").

The Plan sets forth key missions in three aspects, such as "improving the capacity of innovation subjects to apply patent information and innovating and enriching ways for such capacity improvement", and also enumerates another 11 specific tasks, including "deepening the pilot construction of enterprises' capacity to use patent information" and "making further progress in effectively matching enterprises' demands in patent information with information services". In addition, the Plan lays down the objectives of and measures for each task, the responsible entities and work support for carrying out such task. With regard to efforts to deepen the selection of patent information and the pilot program of actively pushing such information, for example, the Plan requires that information selection methods and pushing manners that are based on enterprises' demands in information shall be established, in order to improve the precision to push information, and calls for developing and integrating information platforms or tools, developing various distinctive information service products according to the demand features of small and medium-sized enterprises, expanding services to cover wider areas, and exploring ways to launch the multiple cooperative supply service mode, etc. [Provided by LexisNexis China]

『News and Cases』信息速递及案例分享

5.   5.CFDA Intends to Establish the Drug Patent Linkage Mechanism
食药监总局拟建药品专利链接制度

Recently, the China Food and Drug Administration ("CFDA") has issued the Relevant Policies on Encouraging the Innovation of Drugs and Medical Devices and Protecting the Rights and Interests of Innovators (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public comments before June 10, 2017.

The Draft for Comment lays out arrangements from four perspectives, including "establishing the drug patent linkage mechanism", "improving the system of protecting data on drug trials", "implementing state functionaries' responsibilities in maintaining the confidentiality", and "producing the catalog of drugs launched into the market". According to the Draft for Comment, an applicant for drug registration, if it knows or should know that certain rights are related to, shall provide a statement on such rights, while submitting the registration application. Where the applicant challenges a relevant drug patent, it needs to make a statement that its registration application does not constitute an infringement of the relevant drug patent, and informs the drug patent owner within 20 days after the submission of the registration application; where such drug patent owner reckons that its patent right is infringed, it should institute an action for infringement of patent to a judicial organ within 20 days upon receipt of the notification delivered by the said applicant, and notify the institution of drug evaluation of the action. [Provided by LexisNexis China]

『Articles from Third Parties』第三方文章分享

6.On China’s Patent Linkage System and Drug Experimental Data Protection System from the Release of the Relevant Policies on Encouraging Innovation in Drug and Medical Devices and Protecting the Rights and Interests of Innovators (Draft for Comment)

从《关于鼓励药品医疗器械创新保护创新者权益的相关政策 （征求意见稿）》看中国专利链接和药品试验数据保护制度

[Content from LexisNexis China] Author: Helen Cheng (ZHONG LUN LAW FIRM)

In May 2017, with a view to promoting the industrial restructuring and technological innovation in the drug and medical devices industry, enhance industrial competitiveness and meet the clinical demand of the general public, the China Food and Drug Administration released the Relevant Policies on Encouraging Innovation in Drug and Medical Devices and Protecting the Rights and Interests of Innovators (Draft for Comment), in order to guide and encourage innovation by drug and medical devices manufacturers in terms of policy. This article is going to interpret the Draft for Comment in such aspects as patent linkage and drug experimental data protection.