WTO - TRIPS Agreement - enforcement of intellectual property - copyright on censored works - donations and auctions of seized goods - criminal prosecution thresholds.

China-Measures Affecting the Protection and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. WT/DS362/R.Athttp://www.wto.org/english/tratop e/dispu e/cases e/ds362 e.htm. World Trade Organization Panel, January 26, 2009 (adopted March 20, 2009).

The United States filed a complaint under the World Trade Organization (W TO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights' (TRIPS Agreement) against China concerning three intellectual property aspects of Chinese law and practice, namely, the denial of copyright protection of censored works; the disposal by donation and auctions of seized counterfeit goods; and the unavailability of criminal sanctions for piracy and counterfeiting of copyright and trademark rights below certain thresholds. The panel report, subsequently adopted by the W TO Dispute Settlement Body (DS B), accepted the complaint on the first point but mostly rejected the other two.' Beyond its analysis of the three claims, the report is interesting because it suggests an unexpected degree of flexibility in WTO members' compliance with the TRIPS Agreement and because it may also have blurred...

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