Intellectual property rights have been one of the hottest topics at the yearly gathering of China's top legislators and advisors.

Premier Li Keqiang noted in his first government work report that solving current IP problems is important to achieving standard market operations and promoting the development of the cultural industry.

Many NPC deputies and CPPCC members also have submitted proposals to address rising IP issues in an increasingly high-tech and innovation-driven society.

IP as collateral

China's small-sized high-tech companies and startups have long suffered from financing difficulties, said Yan Bingzhu, a CPPCC member and chairman of Bank of Beijing Co.

He said improvements that aid in using IP as collateral would help ease the problem, reported the Economic Daily.

"China has not established a comprehensive IP collateral registration system - requirements for holders of different kinds of IP collateral such as trademarks and patents are now separately defined in different laws, regulations and judicial interpretations," he said.

He also noted the actual value of collateral is hard to evaluate without standards, while the slow development of the IP trading market does not meet the needs of buyers and sellers.

Yan called for legislation to regulate collateral registration procedures as well as an online system to facilitate trade and increase efficiency.

He also suggested complete evaluation standards for IP assets, the establishment of a comprehensive database and increased efforts to develop the IP trading market.

Audio-visual copyright

Famed singer and CPPCC member Tenger highlighted the need for protection of audio-visual copyright as well as the portraits and reputation of celebrities, reported china.com.cn.

He said piracy is still rampant despite the great efforts that have been made in IP protection.

Tenger added that many copyright owners do not safeguard their rights through judicial procedures because it requires a great deal of time and energy with very low compensation awards.

He proposed that the government adopt regulations for more serious punishments, noting that raising the cost of breaking the law will reduce piracy and promote healthy development of the cultural industry.

Trade secrets law

Li Changjie, an NPC deputy and chairman of Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, said that innovation is the main engine for China's economic restructuring so the country needs to complete its IP protection system.

Trade secrets are now protected using the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and Patent Law, which "have many defects when applied to trade secret violation cases", Li told China Business News.

He said that there should be a dedicated trade secret protection law that has the same status as other IP laws.

He also called for reform of court trials involving technology secrets.

Because timeliness is often an important aspect of tech secrets, a first trial should conclude within six months to improve the fairness of judicial protection, he said.

Patent fee adjustment

"Although low patent application fees help in the rapid increase in the number of patents in China, it is one of the reasons some of the patents have little commercial value," said Xu Xudong, a CPPCC member and deputy director of the Institute of Hydrobiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Yet keeping patents valid is costly every year, which causes some applicants to give up their patents in a short time," Xu said, adding that money and the work of patent examiners are also wasted, China Science Daily reported.

He proposed raising application fees to reduce the number of worthless patent applications while lowering maintenance fees to help holders prolong the validity of high-quality patents.

But Xu added that various levels of government should continue to provide financial incentives to support individual inventors.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 03/12/2014 page17)