Orgalime: China and IPR

In view of the forthcoming EU-US summit Orgalime urges the EU and US authorities to address a common message to the Chinese authorities calling on them to markedly improve the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in China.

Until now discussions on this issue regrettably seem to have led to only limited results on the ground. At the same time we note that China is pressuring governments including those of EU to grant it market economy status in advance of the latest date foreseen in the WTO accession agreement (i.e. 2016).  Orgalime is concerned that any government should consider granting this until such time as the serious IPR issues which our industries are facing and which we detail hereafter, are resolved.

As our companies depend on their capacity to develop and market innovative technologies and products worldwide, the protection of their IPR is central to their competitiveness.

We therefore call upon EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and deputy US Trade Representative Susan Schwab to reiterate their commitment to defending IPR and to state clearly that, for China as for any other country, the respect of IPR is an integral perquisite for being granted market economy status.