In yet another blow to transparency, China has again started geo-blocking Americans and other foreigners from accessing the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) website. China previously geo-blocked the SPC website in November 2022. Attempting to access this site leads to a 403 Forbidden error message with “reason:GeoBL.” However, the more-limited English version of the SPC’s website remains available, making it appear not to be a technical error. Chinese websites for the China National Intellectual Property Administration, the National People’s Congress, China Judgements Online and …
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China’s National Intellectual Property Administration Releases the “2023 Outline for Building a Powerful Intellectual Property Country and Implementation Promotion Plan of the 14th Five-Year Plan”
On July 27, 2023, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released the 2023 Outline for Building a Powerful Intellectual Property Country and Implementation Promotion Plan of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2023年知识产权强国建设纲要和“十四五”规划实施推进计划). The plan has 139 points in groupings as follows: Improving intellectual property laws, regulations and rules; Reform and improve major policies on intellectual property rights; Improving intellectual property rules in emerging fields and specific fields; Strengthen the judicial protection of intellectual property rights; Strengthen the administrative protection of intellectual …
China Releases Report on National Intellectual Property Agency Industry Development Status (2022)
On May 11, 2023, China’s National Intellectual Property Administration released the Report on National Intellectual Property Agency Industry Development Status (2022) (全国知识产权代理行业发展状况（2022年)). In 2022, 645 new patent agencies were established in China, and 5 foreign patent agencies were approved to establish resident representative offices. By the end of 2022, there were 4,520 patent agencies (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), 63,311 patent attorneys, 31,347 practicing patent attorneys, and 4,405 litigation representatives. The number of applicants for the 2022 patent attorney …
USTR Releases 2023 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property – China Remains on Priority Watch List
On April 26, 2023, World Intellectual Property Day, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released the 2023 Special 301 Report. The Report focuses on the adequacy and effectiveness of U.S. trading partners’ protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. China, along with several other countries, remain on the Priority Watch List. With respect to China, the USTR stated There remain many serious concerns regarding IP protection and enforcement in China. In 2022, China continued implementation of amendments …