Application of Law in Adjudication of Civil Disputes Related to Infringement of Right of Communication over Information Networks.") This JI builds on a JCCT commitment to make clear that those who facilitate online infringement will be held jointly liable for that conduct. The US urges that this JI continue to bind judges after the amended copyright law takes effect or be reflected to the same degree of specificity in the amended law.
China also invited comment on draft rules and guidelines on proposed regulations for the remuneration of "service inventions" (i.e., inventions created by an employee as part of his or her employment), national standards involving patents, rules for antimonopoly enforcement in the field of intellectual property rights, and patent examination guidelines for utility model and design patents. Some proposed measures raise serious concerns, while others represent a marked improvement over prior drafts. The United States applauds China's openness to receiving comments and looks forward to continuing engagement as future drafts are developed and evaluated and as the drafts move through the State Council Legislative Affairs Office and National Peoples' Congress.
National Leading Group
Following the completion of China's 2010-11 Special IPR Campaign, the State Council established a permanent national leading group office (Leading Group) to better coordinate and improve China's efforts to combat IPR infringement and the manufacture and sale of counterfeit and shoddy goods. Under the Leading Group, eleven special campaigns concentrating on key IPR concerns were completed in 2012. The United States encourages China to work with foreign governments and rights holders to share information and demonstrate the concrete role the Leading Group can play to improve the protection and enforcement of IPR.
Software Legalization
The United States will continue to urge all levels of the Chinese Government, as well as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), to use only legitimate, licensed copies of software. In May 2011, China's Government reported that software legalization in central government offices was complete. At the provincial level, a similar effort was originally targeted for completion by October 2011, but the government extended the effort into 2012, and it was completed in June 2012 and December 2012, respectively. However, U.S. software companies have seen only a modest increase in sales to the government.
Software legalization efforts have more recently extended to China's SOE sector. Losses by software companies due to piracy at SOEs and other enterprises are very high. To the degree that Chinese firms do not pay for the software that runs many of their operations, they reap a cost advantage relative to competitors who pay for legally acquired software. Although these problems remain, the United States applauds China's confirmation at the 2012 JCCT that it requires SOEs "to purchase and use legitimate software, including but not limited to operating system and office suite software."
Online Piracy
Despite bilateral commitments to increase IPR enforcement in China, online piracy in that country continues on a large scale. The Supreme People's Court, in December 2012, issued a JI
34
