Chinese Patent Counterfeit Enforcement Study Administration:Present Situation, Problems And Solutions

With the continuous development of economic restructuring, the amount of patent application and grant increased rapidly, as well as counterfeit patent cases, of which the form diverse in China. Patent administrative agencies have the advantage of high efficiency but low cost when investigating counterfeit patent cases. However, further study is necessary on issues such as how to implement the effect of administrative enforcement of the counterfeiting patent, whether regional difference exist,and what's the cause and solution for the difference.Based on current research, the concept of administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent was combed; The salient features of administrative enforcement of patent were summarized from the procedure of investigation on counterfeiting patent cases by patent administrative agencies; The background and development of Chinese administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent were introduced through the changes of previous patent laws; The strengths and demands of Chinese administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent were analyzed from the advantages of administrative protection and the practical needs of patent counterfeiting administrative enforcement.Empirical analysis on the information of Chinese administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent cases was finished based on four aspects: the number of cases, file types,the type of people being investigated and involved patent cases, and two dimensions of global and local. The results showed that: 1. The closing case number of administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent increased rapidly, particularly from 2010, better effectiveness of administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent has become a supplement on patent judicial protection; 2. In the counterfeit patent cases investigated, the maximum number of cases to identify the class of counterfeit sales of patented products, accounting for 61% of all the total number of cases investigated; 3. Among 12 categories of people being investigated in counterfeiting patents, private enterprise takes the largest amount, accounting for 66%. 4. In the investigation of the disputed patent types of administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent, designed patents accounted for the largest part, and utility model patents followed,respectively, 59% and 32%, the invention patents take the least part of 9%; 5. Administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent in China differs a lot in different regions: compared tothe central and western regions, the eastern region has a higher number of filing and clearance rate, and law enforcement performance is also better; 6. In the type of investigation cases of counterfeiting patent of various provinces in China, Jiangsu and Shandong province in eastern region, Hunan province in central region an Guizhou province in western region take the greatest efforts and perform the most prominent.In summary, administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patent has its own advantages and social demands, which would be a useful complement to judicial protection. Firstly, laws and regulations for administrative enforcement of counterfeiting patents should be improved,in particular to strengthen the legislation on the cases including facilitating the conduct of counterfeiting patents, the parties of counterfeiting patents refused to cooperate and counterfeiting patents caused by network services; Secondly, we should concentrate on fighting against high incidence provinces of counterfeit patents, strengthen investigation and punishment on the counterfeiting patents cases that continuing to affix patent logo on the product or packaging after the patent is declared invalid or terminated, or marking others patent number unauthorized on products or product packaging, as well as counterfeiting patents in private enterprise; Thirdly, we should focus on cultivating citizens' awareness of patent protection, strengthen patent knowledge publicity and education in the law enforcement process, and bring up the culture of respect patents and emphasis on innovation.