In terms of intellectual property protection in China, the public’s awareness of intellectual property has not been improved as it should be. In the nearly 20 years since China’s accession to the WTO, although my country’s intellectual property laws have been continuously improved, law enforcement has been continuously strengthened, and the overall legal environment has improved, the legal awareness of intellectual property has not been raised to the level it should be, whether it is enterprises or individual citizens. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects.
(1) A considerable number of citizens do not know what intellectual property is. These people mainly live at the bottom of society. They often cannot withstand the temptation of interests and commit infringements intentionally or unintentionally, such as producing and selling pirated CDs, counterfeiting trademarks, or infringing well-known trademarks. Ordinary consumers are greedy for cheapness and are willing to buy goods that they know are pirated. This has to some extent contributed to the development of piracy and other infringements.
(2) The publicity and education of intellectual property laws is not strong enough. The intellectual property system started late in my country, and coupled with its high degree of professionalism, a considerable number of domestic citizens know little about intellectual property. The publicity and education of intellectual property rights has not been put on the agenda by government agencies, functional departments, media, and schools. There is little publicity and education on the intellectual property system, and many universities do not have special intellectual property courses. In recent years, it is not uncommon for courts at all levels to handle intellectual property disputes, but the media rarely publicizes and reports on this aspect.
(3) Lack of innovative spirit. Although “innovation-driven” has become a national strategy, the leaders of the Party and the country have repeatedly talked about encouraging innovation and building our country into an innovative country. However, if China wants to create its own brands, it can only rely on innovation; if Chinese companies are to gain more market share in the fierce international competition, it is necessary to vigorously encourage national enterprises to carry forward the spirit of innovation and develop brand products with independent intellectual property rights. Through the market development in the past 20 years since “joining the WTO”, some well-known domestic companies, such as Haier, Yuanda, and Gree, have occupied a place in the international market with their independent intellectual property rights. However, there are still a large number of companies that do not realize the importance of intellectual property rights, lack a sense of crisis in creating independent brands, only care about the present, not the long-term, and do not have the foresight of globalization strategy.
(4) The lack of legal awareness leads to a lack of awareness of rights protection and a lack of legal thinking. In many cases, the right holder knows that his rights have been infringed, but he will not take the initiative to protect his rights unless it is absolutely necessary.