Unic Press UK: The European Union (EU) has filed a case in the World Trade Organization (WTO), accusing the People’s Republic of China of engaging in unfair technology transfers and undermining the intellectual property rights of European companies.
Following a legislation of the People’s Republic of China, all European companies entering the country are obligated to grant ownership and usage rights of their technology to domestic Chinese entities, thereby fettering EC companies from freely negotiating “market-based terms in technology transfer agreements.”
The EC further asserts that the legislation is “at odds with the basic rights that companies should be enjoying under the WTO rules and disciplines, in particular under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).”
In a statement Friday, the EC Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, said: “Technological innovation and know-how is the bedrock of our knowledge-based economy. It’s what keeps our companies competitive in the global market and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across Europe. We cannot let any country force our companies to surrender this hard-earned knowledge at its border. This is against international rules that we have all agreed upon in the WTO. If the main players don’t stick to the rulebook, the whole system might collapse.”
