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提要：近年来，中国在打击盗版方面采取了切实的行动，并取得了进展。但如今盗版者已经充分利用全球供应链和互联网，变得越来越老练。而随着中国加大打击力度，假货生产正在向印度和俄罗斯转移。知识产权保护和产品盗版治理已经成为全球性问题。在这种情况下，盗版问题需要全球合作，仅把目光放在中国会过为狭隘。
（外脑精华·北京）4月6日，中国政府宣称要降低知识产权犯罪刑事制裁的“门槛”。这条法律的出台是打击那些盗版CD、DVD 贩子的途径之一，但中国的努力恐怕难以打动美国电影和唱片行业。这些行业的领导人正在华盛顿积极游说，要求加大对华压力，以打击猖獗的盗版活动。美国贸易代表苏珊·施瓦布已向WTO提交了两项申诉，其一是指责中国对知识产权保护不力，其二是声称中国的市场壁垒阻碍了美国的书籍、电影和音乐制品进入中国。施瓦布于4月9日表示，中国假冒盗版问题的严重程度是不可接受的。由于中国对知识产权保护不够，美国的企业和工人每年要遭受数十亿美元的损失。
盗版活动建立全球供应链，打击盗版需全球合作
事实上，近年来中国政府在打击盗版方面采取了切实的行动：加大对制假场所的打击力度，加强海关控制以防止假货出口，并提高对制假贩假者的法律制裁力度。然而，制假、贩假者也变得越来越老练，在利用广大的全球供应链方面尤其如此。有证据表明，随着中国加大打击力度，假货的生产正在向印度和俄罗斯转移。
此外，现在许多假货商贩不再公开展示其货物，而是通过发布目录来展示货物。这种情况下，即使针对贩假者出台更严厉的法律，恐怕也难以解决问题。例如，虽然中国对北京秀水街市场的假货销售活动进行了严厉打击，但盗版并未停息。
由于盗版已成为全球性问题，仅仅针对中国是难以解决问题的。执法机关和品牌所有者都表示，关于盗版问题，只有多边性的方法才是有效的解决之道。虽然中国是许多假冒制品的全球中心，但全球的假货销售是由国际性造假集团控制的。借助互联网，外国买家无需进入中国即可向中国制造商发送定购Calloway高尔夫球杆、诺基亚手机电池、耐克运动鞋等假货的规格要求。用优质品牌保护委员会（The Quality Brands Protection Committee，QBPC，中国外商投资协会组建，旨在保护外商在华知识产权）一家成员的话来说，造假者提高其技能的速度远高于执法机构，因此虽然打击盗版的力度越来越大，但国际的反盗版合作却落在了造假者后面。
目前，假货已经超出了手表、提包和汽车部件等普通产品的范围。中国制造业的合法产品业务正在沿着价值链升级，与此同时，造假者也开始生产高技术的电子产品，以及针对企业用户而不是最终消费者的机械设备。
中国保护知识产权取得进展，但市场有待开放
优质品牌保护委员协会表示，至今已收到其会员单位的22份关于通过刑事诉讼成功打击假货的报告。律师也表示，目前一些外资企业通过中国法院解决专利争端，这是它们信任中国法律体系的有力证明。
美国方面很可能会要求中国根据WTO规则扩大市场准入。目前，中国每年仅批准进口20部外国电影，对唱片进口也有限制。然而，在中国泛滥的盗版DVD和CD却有成千上万种，这说明需求极其庞大。专家表示，好莱坞所有电影在市场上都有需求。消费者没有其他选择，这不是价格问题，而是能否获得的问题。因此，如果中国进一步向外国版权持有者开放市场，将有助于解决盗版问题。
China
英文原文：Chinese Fakes: Tough to Police
On Apr. 6, Beijing announced that it would lower the threshold for the number of bootleg copies seized that would trigger criminal charges. The move is part of an effort to prosecute sellers of pirated CDs and DVDs. But it probably won't impress U.S. motion picture and recording industry executives, who have been lobbying Washington to put more pressure on China to combat rampant piracy and counterfeiting. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the U.S. will file two formal complaints with the World Trade Organization on Apr. 10 alleging that China is not doing enough to protect intellectual property. The second case concerns market barriers that the U.S. contends keep American books, films, and music out of China. \" iracy and counterfeiting levels in China remain unacceptably high,\" Schwab said Apr. 9 in announcing the new cases: \"Inadequate protection of intellectual property rights in China costs U.S. firms and workers billions of dollars each year.\"
Here's a quick guide to the central issues involved:
Is the problem of counterfeiting getting better or worse in China?
Chinese authorities have made honest efforts in recent years to improve enforcement, stepping up police raids on rogue manufacturers, tightening controls at customs to prevent exports, and making it easier to prosecute counterfeit producers and distributors. But counterfeiters are growing more sophisticated about how they manufacture and distribute knockoffs, especially exploiting extensive global supply networks. There's also evidence that as China clamps down, production of the knockoffs is shifting to India and Russia.
Have foreign companies successfully used Chinese courts to protect their brands?
The Quality Brands Protection Committee （QBPC）, a coalition of foreign and domestic companies seeking intellectual-property rights protection, says that it has received 22 submissions from members detailing successful criminal prosecutions against counterfeiters. A few years ago, there were none. Lawyers also say that foreign companies are now using Chinese courts to fight each other over patents that they have registered with China, which is strong evidence of their faith in the Chinese legal system.
Would the problem of piracy in China improve if the foreign copyright owners had greater access to the Chinese market?
The U.S. will probably call for greater market access under the WTO as well. China only allows the legal importation of 20 foreign movie titles a year, and has restrictions on musical recordings, too. Yet the prevalence of tens of thousands of different titles of bootlegged DVDs and CDs, which sell for less than a dollar, is evidence there is enormous demand. \"The market wants to watch all the movies from Hollywood,\" says Anthony Chen, an intellectual-property rights lawyer with Jones Day in Shanghai. \"There is no alternative for customers; it's not a question of price but availability.\"
If counterfeiting is a global problem, is targeting China alone a sufficient approach?
Law enforcers and brand owners say that only a multilateral approach will be effective. Though China is ground zero for much of global product piracy, worldwide distribution is controlled by international syndicates. Thanks to the Internet, a foreign buyer can now send specifications for a counterfeit Calloway golf club, a Nokia （NOK） mobile-phone battery, or a pair of Nike （NKE） sports shoes to a Chinese manufacturer without having to set foot in the country. Still, as one member of the QBPC who requested anonymity puts it, \"The bad guys develop skills much faster than law enforcement, so while there are stronger and stronger efforts, the collaboration is lagging behind the counterfeiters.\"
What is the likely outcome of a U.S. complaint filed with the WTO?
The U.S. has only filed three complaints with the WTO against Beijing since China joined the organization in December, 2001. First, the U.S. must formally ask for consultations with China before asking the WTO to make a judgment, a process that could take several months. Still, trade tensions with China are continuing to escalate in the face of a yawning gap with the U.S. and other major trading partners. So Washington may also appeal to the WTO to ensure greater access to China's market for foreign music and movies （see BusinessWeek.com, 4/4/07, \"Rough Road Ahead for U.S.-China Trade\"）.
Is the nature of counterfeiting changing?
It is no longer confined to imitation watches, handbags, and auto parts. Executives on the ground in China say that as mainland manufacturers move up the value chain in legitimate goods, so do counterfeiters who are making sophisticated electrical components and machinery aimed at the industry, not at the end consumer.
Will the new, stiffer laws imposed on sellers of pirated products help solve the problem?
Probably not. Many retailers no longer display their wares openly. They now resort to the use of catalogs. And despite several high-profile crackdowns at Silk Street Market, Beijing's best-known counterfeiting locale, this practice continues unabated.
Balfour is Asia Correspondent for BusinessWeek based in Hong Kong.
来源：商业周刊,2007.04.09 |
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发表于 2007-5-2 23:47:30