The Chinese government hit back at U.S. plans to investigate intellectual property violations by China, as it urged to protect China’s bullet train technology from theft. Developing countries had “spied on and stolen” China’s fast-train technology to get the competitive edge at the expense of Chinese companies, a commentary in the Procuratorial Daily noted, without naming the countries. It added that China had developed its own technology to build an extensive high-speed railway network, but had failed to adequately protect its know-how. China should follow the lead of Western countries by securing patents when it developed new technology, it said. Starting in 2004, China got its fast-rail know-how off the ground by setting up joint ventures with market leaders from Germany, France and Japan. The foreign partners signed technology transfer contracts with the Chinese government, giving them access to the vast Chinese market. But years later, after helping to train the Chinese engineers and develop a local supply chain, the foreign companies said they had lost out – and their former partners were now rivals. They accused the Chinese companies of breaching contracts that had limited the use of their technology to China – with those firms now trying to sell Chinese technology abroad – and said that they had replicated rather than innovated. Lu Xiang, Researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said China had improved in the area of intellectual property protection and it would be willing to negotiate with the U.S. if it provided evidence of forced technology transfers, the South China Morning Post reports.

Alibaba unveiled a quick response platform for handling reports of counterfeit goods, aiming to boost the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs). Complaints about knockoffs from copyright and patent holders that are filed through the e-commerce company’s new online express channel will be handled within 24 hours, instead of three or four days, as was normal before. “We’ve streamlined our work system and improved efficiency,” said Zheng Junfang, Chief Platform Governance Officer. “What we want is to provide better services for protecting IP rights more quickly for the rights holders.” During a one-month pilot program that began in June, 96% of complaints about fake products received a response within a day. Of those, 83% of the links to fake products were deleted. Rights holders can register accounts on the platform free and submit reports of fake products found on the company’s online shopping sites, including Tmall and Taobao, Zheng said. “All the services are available not only in Chinese and English, but also in French, Russian and Spanish,” she said.

“Alibaba’s quick-response platform helps us find information about fake product sellers or producers in a timely manner, and provides clues to police officers, which can protect our brand and reduce our economic losses,” Zhang Lin, Manager of the China branch of the German Association of the Automotive Industry said. But Xie Huijia, Associate Professor specializing in IPR protection at the South China University of Technology, said it is not enough only to accelerate the handling of fake product claims: “More important is how accurate the fight is.” “To delete links of online shops selling fake products, the company has to compare the goods provided by sellers and the brand owners, but I don’t think it’s easy to verify whether the IP rights were infringed or not,” he said. “Even courts often need several months to identify infringement.” Alibaba in June said that it has used big-data technology to help it detect more than 61,000 individuals or groups suspected of operating shops that sell fake goods on Taobao. It has also detected 1,640 factories that produce counterfeit goods and supply them to online dealers, the China Daily reports.

China will take action to defend its interests if the United States damages trade ties, the Ministry of Commerce warned, after U.S. President Donald Trump authorized an inquiry into China’s alleged theft of intellectual property. It is the first direct trade measure by the Trump administration against China, although it is unlikely to prompt near-term change in commercial ties. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will have a year to decide whether to launch a formal investigation of China’s policies on intellectual property, which the White House and U.S. industry groups say are harming American businesses and jobs. The United States should respect objective facts, act prudently, abide by its World Trade Organization (WTO) pledges, and not destroy the principles of multilateralism, a Spokesman at China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement. “If the U.S. side ignores the facts and disrespects multilateral trade principles in taking actions that harm both sides’ trade interests, China will absolutely not sit by and watch, will inevitably adopt all appropriate measures and resolutely safeguard China’s lawful rights,” the South China Morning Post reports.

Shanghai’s first national intellectual property rights protection service center was established in the Pudong New Area to shorten the patent application process and enhance IPR protection. The China (Pudong) Intellectual Property Rights Protection Center in the Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park will help halve the application process to about 15 months, said Lu Guoqiang, Director of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration. “A shorter process will help to increase the competitiveness of local companies in the face of fierce global competition on new technologies,” Lu told a press conference. Previously, applications had to be filed with the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) in Beijing, a process which could take about 30 months. The center will hire an expert panel to evaluate and help improve the patents before submitting them to the national office. Those submitted through the Pudong center will enjoy a faster “green channel” in Beijing, Lu said. Currently, the center offers fast access for the high-end manufacturing and bio-pharmaceutical industries for Pudong-based companies from both home and abroad. The service will expand later.

Alibaba said big data technologies have helped it detect more than 61,000 individuals or groups suspected of operating shops that sell counterfeit goods on Taobao, its online shopping portal. In addition, it has detected 1,640 factories that produce fake goods and supply them to online dealers, Zheng Junfang, Alibaba’s Chief Platform Governance Officer, said at a media briefing. Taobao closed 180,000 stores from March last year to February which were found to have sold counterfeit items. “The people who control such online shops and benefit from selling counterfeits are not usually the people who register as being responsible for the shops. They use other people’s ID to hide their real identities, but big data technologies have allowed us to detect and locate them,” Zheng said. The location of the behind-the-scene big bosses was related to industrial clusters in different regions. “We’ll try our best to block vendors with bad reputations from re-entering our shopping portal, no matter how they disguise their identities,” Zheng said.