. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/467 
23 January 2006 
 
 (06-0298) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:  English 
 
 
 
RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION PURSUANT TO 
ARTICLE 63.3 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
 
Communication from China  
  
 The following communication addressed to the Delegation of Japan, 
dated 22 December 2005, is being circulated at the re quest of the Delegation of China.  It contains a 
response to a request from Japan for information pur suant to Article 63.3 of the TRIPS Agreement, 
circulated in document IP/C/W/463. 
 
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  1. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 25 October 2005 and have 
taken note of the request from Japan as contained therein for information on cases of intellectual 
property rights (IPR) enforcement of China for th e years 2001 through to 2004 and other relevant 
cases.  In pursuance to the provisions on the righ ts and obligations under Article 63.3 of the 
TRIPS Agreement, I am authorized by the Governme nt of China to provide the following response to 
you with regard the above-mentioned request. 
2. The Government of China has always attached great importance to the protection of IPRs.  
On the issue of transparency, Ch ina believes that this is essentia l to ensure the predictability, 
credibility and due functionality of the IPR protection system.  China has strictly fulfilled all its WTO obligations under Article 63 of th e TRIPS Agreement.  China's competent domestic IPR authorities 
have also made relevant information publicly av ailable through their official websites, newspapers, 
magazines and other proper channels.  In addition,  China has provided much information concerning 
IPR legislations and their enforcement through its  bilateral exchange and cooperation activities with 
WTO Members. 
3. Regarding the request by the Government of Japan as contained in your letter, China would 
like to make the following comments and seek relevant clarifications from Japan. 
4. Firstly, Article 63.3 of the TRIPS Agreement contains two sentences.  China is always ready 
to provide, in response to a written request from any WTO Member, information referred to in 
Article 63.1 and the first sentence of Article 63.3.  However, it is necessary to put it clearly that since 
China does not follow the common law system, it is not in a position to provide any such "judicial 
decisions and administrative rulings of general application" as requested by Japan and within the 
meaning of Article 63.1 of the Agreement.  China w ould therefore like to ask Japan to clarify the legal 
basis of such a request, i.e., to explain explicitly  on which sentence of Article 63.3 of the TRIPS 
Agreement the request is based, the first or the second. 
 IP/C/W/467 
Page 2  
 
  5. Secondly, as it is required under the second sente nce of Article 63.3 of the Agreement, a 
WTO Member shall have "reason to believe that ... ... affect s its rights under this Agreement".  There 
are no reasons and facts mentioned in your letter that could prove any rights of Japan under the 
Agreement have been affected.  In this regard, China needs to know the reason why Japan so believes 
and how the cases which would probably be mentioned in your letter would affect its rights under the 
Agreement. 
6. Thirdly, the second sentence of Article 63.3 also  provides that a Member could only request 
information on "a specific judicial decision or adminis trative ruling or bilateral agreement."  China 
believes that those "cases of intellectual propert y rights enforcement iden tified by China for the 
years 2001 through to 2004 and other relevant  cases" referred to in your letter are not "a specific 
case".  China therefore invites Japan to identify those specific cases within the meaning of the second 
sentence of Article 63.3 of the Agreement. 
7. China holds that any WTO Member should inte rpret and apply intern ational conventions, 
including the TRIPS Agreement, in good faith .  China recognizes WTO Members' rights under 
Article 63.3 of the TRIPS Agreement.  However, China believes that any request under Article 63.3 
should be consistent with the requireme nts as contained in that provision. 
8. Furthermore, China has noted that Article 63. 3 of the TRIPS Agreement only refers to a 
Member's right to request information, but there is no mention of a corresponding obligation of the requested Member to actually fo llow the request.  Nor does it provide any formality and time 
requirement for any possible response.  Based upon this understanding, China would naturally believe 
that any possible response from Chin a to the request, if applicable and necessary, will not affect any 
rights of China under the Agreement. 
9. China is willing to enhance cooperation with all WTO Members, including Japan, with 
respect to the protection of IPRs.  It is China's beli ef that sufficient clarification to be provided by 
Japan to China on the above-mentioned points in wr iting will be helpful for the latter to offer its 
cooperation for the benefit of the former in  the implementation of Article 63.3 of the 
TRIPS Agreement.  China is looking forwar d to receiving an early response from Japan. 
 
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