The General Office of the State Council has recently issued the Key Tasks in the National Actions against the Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights and the Production and Sale of Counterfeit and Substandard Commodities in 2016 (the "Key Tasks").
The Key Tasks specify 27 key tasks in seven aspects: 1. enhance governance in key fields; 2. improve industrial daily supervision and administration; 3. strengthen the development of the regulations system; 4. reinforce the collaboration among departments and juridical protection; 5. advance the combination of punishment and prevention and the combination of punishment and construction; 6. carry out diversified publicity and education; and 7. effectively make bilateral and multilateral cooperation and exchange. Specifically, the Key Tasks stipulate that we shall seriously investigate and treat such illegalities as the production and sale of counterfeit and inferior drugs, the production and sale of vehicle-use fuel not in line with the national standards, and ex-factory sale of products subject to compulsory certification without license; carry out the supervision and random checking and special renovation in respect of commodities used for "haze prevention"; investigate and treat the infringement and abuse of intellectual property rights ("IPRs") and other illegalities in accordance with the law; and enhance the administrative protection of business secrets. The Key Tasks stress that we shall advance the formulation of and revision to the Anti-unfair Competition Law, the Copyright Law, the Patent Law and other laws and regulations and perfect the mechanism for destroying infringing and fake commodities in a harmless manner.