INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Whom to Contact:

Neil Pratt
Senior Director, International Trade and Trade Counsel
(202) 974-5333
npratt@plasticsindustry.org

Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement in China is an area of serious concern for the U.S. plastics industry. Many SPI members have direct experience with the acceptance of piracy, counterfeiting, and trademark infringements as a way of doing business in China.

Since joining the WTO, China has adopted several legal reforms to build a framework for protecting intellectual property rights. The problem, however, lies in the ineffective enforcement of this legal framework. Without a more aggressive attack on illegal counterfeiters by the Chinese government, there is no deterrent to curb the widespread abuses that plague U.S. plastics companies, particularly small and medium-sized ones, seeking access to the Chinese market.

China's lack of effective IPR enforcement is a de facto trade barrier that hinders plastics exports to China. SPI is working with other U.S. industry associations, such as the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, and the U.S. government to seek a significant improvement in China's IPR enforcement regime, expand the tools and resources available to U.S. companies to better protect their IP in China, and strengthen U.S. law to increase the effectiveness of catching counterfeit goods at the U.S. border. For further information about SPI's efforts in the intellectual property rights area, please contact Neil Pratt.

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