271. The representative of Japan thanked the Chinese delegation for its comprehensive statement. He said that, at the transitional review in 2002 and 2003, his delegation had raised questions regarding the "further improvement of enforcement in judicial procedures", "patent examination procedures", and other issues. He said that his delegation appreciated the fact that the Chinese Government had made considerable efforts to improve its intellectual property protection in response to these questions by, for example, drafting new judicial interpretation on criminal thresholds, and launching a nationwide campaign to step up its protection of intellectual property rights.
272. He said that, in spite of such efforts, it appeared that China's intellectual property protection and enforcement was still insufficient in the light of the high level of counterfeiting and piracy that continued to exist in China. In document IP/C/W/430 submitted by the Japanese delegation, the following four issues had been recognized as highly important: "active pursuit of criminal prosecutions", "strengthening of sanctions through alteration of criminal prosecution standards", "pendency of patent examinations", and "prevention of misappropriated applications", about all of which the Japanese industry had serious concerns. He said that due to time constraints, China might not be able to prepare detailed responses to all the questions immediately, but his delegation would greatly appreciate China's providing such responses through future discussion.
