Minister Chen of China’s Health Ministry and Secretary Leavitt of the U.S. Health and Public Services announced plans to set up food and drug safety oversight offices in China and the U.S. to enhance the supervision and standardization of food and drug quality.�
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In the interview, Secretary Chen stated that China is beginning preparations to [...]

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will begin the fourth examination of a draft Food Safety Law in late February 2009.  The draft Food Safety Law is based on the Food Hygiene Law, which was promulgated in October 1995.  The Food Hygiene Law will be repealed at the time the Food Safety Law [...]

An Amendment to Taiwan’s “Operational Directions for Customs Authorities” revises original procedural guidelines to better carry out border control enforcement, and provides improved legal clarifications for rights holders, importers, and exporters in the case of a goods seizure.  The Amendment took effect on September 1, 2008.
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Under the new amendment, rights holders may file a one-time [...]

The Internet Service Provider (ISP) Liabilities Bill, also known as the “Safe Harbor” Bill, seeks to define the liabilities of ISPs regarding infringers’ use of the Internet to distribute copyrighted material.  Specifically, the Amendment states ISPs will not be held civilly liable to rights holders or ISP users after the removal of suspected infringing material, [...]

On October 25, 2008, the National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. Copyright Office signed the Strategic Cooperation Memo in Beijing.  The memo established a cooperative framework between China and the U.S. regarding copyright protection.�
According to the signed memorandum, China and the U.S. [...]

In March this year, Jeboo.com sued the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in the Beijing Intermediate Court for defamation, apology to rehabilitate Jeboo’s reputation, and damages of RMB1 million.�
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This is a surprising and aggressive action by the Chinese website, which was sued by five members of the MPAA for transmitting copyrighted movies through [...]

In April, the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee disclosed a draft of the Food Safety Law—a revision to a decades old food safety and sanitation code—for public comment.  A final draft of the law is expected to pass in June 2008.
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In response to international concerns about safety inspections on China’s food exports, the NPC drafted [...]