Washington has been pounding the table to try to get Beijing to clamp down on copyright infringement, intellectual property piracy and counterfeiting. But now the U.S. has decided that talking tough just isn't enough. On Apr. 10 it took the fight to the next level by filing a pair of formal complaints with the World Trade Organization.<br />
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U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced the filing of two formal complaints with the World Trade Organization alleging that China is not doing enough to protect intellectual property. <br />
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Predictably, Beijing is peeved. A statement posted on the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's Web site warned that the WTO action will "bring an unfavorable impact on bilateral trade."<br />
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"Piracy and counterfeiting levels in China remain unacceptably high," Schwab said Apr. 9 in announcing the new cases, "Inadequate protection of intellectual-property rights in China costs U.S. firms and workers billions of dollars each year".<br />
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One worrying trend is that almost no product is immune to copycats these days. In a recent raid on a printing factory in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, police seized bogus packaging and labels for Coca-Cola bottles, Wrigley's chewing gum, Trix breakfast cereal, and Purina cat food. And it's not just unsuspecting consumers who are at risk. Executives on the ground in China say counterfeiters are moving up the value chain, turning out sophisticated electrical components and machinery aimed at industrial users.<br />
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Though China may be ground zero in the production of fake DVDs, pharmaceuticals, phone batteries, and luxury handbags, counterfeiting is a global business that requires a global solution. Whether the U.S. and China find a way to fight this problem together in the name of better trade relations remains to be seen. <br />
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"It's an international problem, so we need to work not just on the producers and exporters in China, but also on the importers and buyers outside China," says Jack Chang, Shanghai-based chairman of the Quality Brands Protection Committee, a grouping of 170 companies pressing for greater intellectual-property protections in China.<br />
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Article Source: <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2007/gb20070410_466097.htm" >BusinessWeek.com</a>