Jack Chang, chairman and co-founder of the Quality Brands Protection Committee of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment, is a veteran in the intellectual property field. He shared his views on China's IP protection and management with China Daily reporter Zhang Zhao.

What are your thoughts on the current government efforts to protect trademarks and brands in China?

The cooperation between Chinese government agencies and overseas IP owners is an example of public and private sector collaboration worth emulating.

Police leaders view IP crimes, particularly cross-border illicit trade of counterfeit goods, as serious threats to China's national economic security. The QBPC has built a strong partnership with the police authorities to help its members to move their criminal IP cases forward.

The QBPC's customs training programs enable customs officials to better understand the brands and products of participating members. The seizure of counterfeit goods involving participating members' products has reportedly increased following the training programs.

In terms of criminal enforcement, the recent landmark change is the significantly improved transparency of public prosecution against IP crimes driven by the Shanghai and Beijing people's procuratorates, with the support of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

However, the size and scale of counterfeit problems remain vast. Online sales of trademark-infringing goods and copyright infringement pose a significant threat to consumer safety and IP owners. Public awareness of the importance of respecting IP and refusing counterfeit goods is relatively low. Therefore, it is critical for all stakeholders to recognize the progress made in China and to work together to tackle new and ongoing challenges.

What do you expect most in brand protection? How should the government, companies and industry associations cooperate?

Chinese and foreign companies are in the same boat in the fight against counterfeiting and piracy. There is still much room for strengthening partnerships between the QBPC and Chinese companies.

A solid foundation has already been built. The QBPC is a non-profit organization playing the role of a bridge between China and the international community in the IP field. It acts as a window for the international community to better understand China's IP and business environment. Interactions between the QBPC and the Chinese government need to be enhanced further.

Why did the QBPC start the annual top cases campaign in 2002? What has kept it going over the past years?

The inspiration came in 2001 with a county police unit that undertook an outstanding criminal investigation. It involved a group that manufactured and sold equipment for making adhesive bandages and taught their customers how to counterfeit a well-known US brand of adhesive bandages.

The police raided the group and seized the suspects, and rejected their bribe to keep digging into the counterfeit network.

I shared the story with QBPC leaders and suggested that the committee come up with an objective standard and transparent process for members to nominate Chinese law enforcement agencies that have done an outstanding job protecting IP. The system selects the top 10 criminal cases through anonymous voting.

The QBPC invited the winning agencies to its annual meeting in 2002 to express appreciation.

Years later, the QBPC created the non-criminal case category and model cases of harmonized administrative and judicial enforcement. The lessons learned from the cases serve as a tool in our training. More importantly, these cases are live examples of the progress IP protection is making in China.

What suggestions do you have for Chinese companies regarding brand management and IP protection?

It is a standard operating procedure for foreign brand owners to conduct due diligence during the process of devising trademarks, applying for registration and launching their products. Foreign brand owners devise trademarks that can differentiate them from competitors and other popular brands in the market. However, quite a high number of Chinese domestic companies design their trademarks to be similar to other leading brands in the same market. This approach and the related brand building activities do not help to establish a quality brand. Brand protection work is a high priority on the senior management's agenda and is undertaken by dedicated professional teams following strict compliance policies. This is also an area that domestic brand owners can learn from their foreign counterparts.