China copyright and patent protection is of great significance. Copyrights and patents are concerned with questions about who owns the rights to a certain work or product. You see copyright dates in every book and on every other published work, and many products carry the patent symbol somewhere on their packaging.
Of course, financial profit isn't the only reason to copyright or patent something: The programs are simply meant to give a creator legal control over when, where and how his or her creation is published or used in China. China. protection is extremely broad -- most kinds of creative work are copyrightable -- but it's also fairly amorphous, full of subjective interpretations and legal details.
China’s copyright law was established in 1990 and amended in October 2001. The new implementing rules came into force on September 15, 2002. Unlike the patent and trademark protection, copyrighted works do not require registration for protection. Protection is granted to individuals from countries belonging to the copyright international conventions or bilateral agreements of which China is a member. However, copyright owners may wish to voluntarily register with China’s National Copyright Administration (NCA) to establish evidence of ownership, should enforcement actions become necessary.
China’s first patent law was enacted in 1984 and has been amended twice (1992 and 2000) to extend the scope of protection. To comply with TRIPs, the latest amendment extended the duration of patent protection to 20 years from the date of filing a patent application. Chemical and pharmaceutical products, as well as food, beverages, and flavorings are all now patentable.
China follows a first to file system for patents, which means patents are granted to those that file first even if the filers are not the original inventors. This system is unlike the United States, which recognizes the “first to invent” rule, but is consistent with the practice in other parts of the world, including the European Union.
As a signatory to the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 1994, China will perform international patent searches and preliminary examinations of patent applications. Under China’s patent law, a foreign patent application files by a person or firm without a business office in China must apply through an authorized patent agent, while initial preparation may be done by anyone. Patents are filed with China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) in Beijing, while SIPO offices at the provincial and municipal level are responsible for administrative enforcement.
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