PRIORITY WATCH LIST
CHINA
China remains a top intellectual property enforcement and TRIPS compliance priority for the United States. China will remain on the Priority Watch List, and remain subject to Section 306 monitoring. The United States is seeking to resolve its concerns with respect to three IPR protection and enforcement issues through WTO dispute settlement with China. (See the "Dispute Settlement" section above).
The United States recognizes and appreciates the efforts of the many officials in China who continue to give voice to China's commitment to protecting intellectual property rights and are working hard to make it a reality. In spite of these efforts, the shared goal of significantly reducing IPR infringement throughout China has not yet been achieved.
China has made welcome progress in some areas. Notable IPR improvements included completion of China's accession to the WIPO Internet Treaties and its ongoing implementation of rules that require computers to be pre-installed with licensed operating system software. The United States believes that continued bilateral dialogue and cooperation can lead to further progress in these and other areas. The United States will continue to put serious efforts into its joint work with China on intellectual property enforcement and protection strategies, innovation policies, and the range of other important IPR-related matters in our bilateral economic relationship, including through the U.S. – China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), and other fora.
At the December 2007 JCCT meeting, China reported on steps it has taken since the previous JCCT meeting in April 2006 to improve protection of IPR in China, including accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet Treaties, a crackdown on the sale of computers not pre-loaded with legitimate software, enforcement efforts against counterfeit textbooks and teaching materials, and joint enforcement raids conducted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Chinese security agencies. China and the United States agreed to exchange information on customs seizures of counterfeit goods in order to further focus China's enforcement resources on companies exporting such goods. China agreed to strengthen enforcement of laws against company name misuse, a practice in which some Chinese companies have registered legitimate U.S. trademarks and trade names without legal authority to do so. The two sides also agreed to cooperate on case-by-case enforcement against such company name misuse. In addition, China agreed to eliminate the requirement to submit viable biotech seeds for testing, a policy change which reduces the possibility of illegal copying of patented agricultural materials.
At the SED meeting in May 2007, the United States and China agreed to Principles and Outcomes for Strengthening Innovation Cooperation (SED Principles and Outcomes), including a decision to "jointly host a seminar on the innovation ecosystem in 2007 that would gather experts to discuss and share experiences on both sides regarding the critical elements of developing an environment conducive to technological innovation." To realize this commitment, the two governments co-hosted an Innovation Conference on December 10, 2007 in Beijing. At this meeting, both sides reaffirmed that innovation is best fostered where there is effective rule of
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