WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Several experts have lauded China's recent development in the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights, highlighting judicial improvement seen in a series of concrete measures.

Such improvement, they said, will not only benefit Chinese companies but make China more appealing for foreign companies, which would help bolster China's economic growth for years to come.

REINFORCING JUDICIAL PROTECTION

One of the most important developments in China's IP protection is the creation of the new Intellectual Property Court by the Supreme People's Court (SPC) early this year, said Jay Kesan, a law professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

As all cases of certain kind would go to one place, "there's a potential for consistent decision-making," and judicial outcomes may be more "predictable," said Kesan, also a patent attorney.

Specialized IP courts were established in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in late 2014. In recent years, China has set up IP tribunals in some 19 cities. Solid judicial progress has been made, and the country's IP judicial protection system "has taken an initial shape," Su Chi, former president of the Beijing IP Court, told Xinhua.

More attention is being paid to judicial opinions, Kesan said, noting that about 20 guiding cases for precedents in IP protection have been designated by the SPC.

A more recent step, Kesan noted, is an IP case database released in April, which not only provides up-to-date, authoritative, and comprehensive Chinese IP laws, judicial interpretations, guiding cases and recommended cases, but allows lawyers and companies to do research and get a sense of how the courts are ruling, contributing to "a predictable body of law."

Su, also an academic committee member of the IP judicial protection research center under the SPC, told Xinhua that the database demonstrates China's willingness to enhance transparency in this area.

"China values the leading role of judicial measures in protecting intellectual property, and has achieved impressive results," according to a white paper released by China's State Council Information Office on Sunday.

NARROWING GAP

China's efforts to strengthen IP protection at the legislation level are also remarkable, with revisions to several crucial laws, Su said.

In April, China just revised its Trademark Law and Anti-Unfair Competition Law to further strengthen protection of trademarks and trade secrets, and will amend its Copyright Law and Patent Law as a next step, said Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen.

China has established a legal system for IP protection consistent with prevailing international rules and adapted to China's domestic conditions, the white paper said.

The newly passed Foreign Investment Law shows that China intends to make continued progress in boosting IP protection for foreign investors and foreign-invested enterprises, said Yukon Huang, a senior fellow with the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"The Foreign Investment Law is really about intentions and establishing principles," said Huang, also the World Bank's country director for China from 1997 to 2004.

Even though China's IP protection is not as strong as in some developed countries, it's actually been improving "quite a lot," Huang said. "For those who claim that China is not trying to make the appropriate efforts, that's basically wrong."

Citing a survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, the economist said over 90 percent of U.S. companies have acknowledged China's efforts in improving IP protection in recent years.

Among the general public, Su said, there's a growing consensus that companies should respect IP, be honest and trustworthy, and engage in fair competition. "The advance in the whole society has been obvious."

Drawing on the experience of some developed economies, Huang said the improvement of IP protection won't happen overnight, and that it's a process featured by gradual, continuous improvement as an economy gradually develops and narrows its gap with more advanced economies.

BEST INTEREST

Looking back 15 to 20 years, technology used to be mostly developed in the West and transferred to China through foreign investment, trade, or licensing, Huang said. However, in recent years, he added, China has been making remarkable progress in developing new technologies domestically.

"Ten years ago, the number of cases of violations of IP rights would be largely foreign companies suing Chinese companies. Today, actually most of the cases are Chinese companies suing other Chinese companies," Huang said, adding that the concept of patenting by Chinese companies has become "very prominent."

In 2018, the number of China's invention patent applications reached over 1.5 million, and some 432,000 licenses were issued, among which 346,000 went to domestic applicants, according to official data. China was the second-largest source of international patent applications filed via the World Intellectual Property Organization last year.

"Over the past 10 years, we observe not only an increase in China's royalty payments, but also a significant increase in the pace at which the world is paying China for the use of Chinese intellectual property," researchers said in a report recently published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, noting that China is moving toward global leadership in innovation.

China is innovating and making products with higher value, Kesan said, adding that "it's in China's best interest to have good IP protection," and the protection means a "good economic foundation."

Noting that China has many "significant" technology companies, Kesan said stronger IP protection will encourage more innovation and strengthen competitiveness globally.

"It will help Chinese companies within China, help Chinese companies go abroad," he said. "It would also make China a more attractive place for foreign companies."

"There is a lot of momentum and a lot of activities that are progressing in the right direction," Kesan said. "Continuing along in this direction will ultimately benefit the Chinese economy very significantly."