February 26, before 5 pm is the deadline for public comments concerning the locations and issues that should be the focus of a special provincial review of IPR in China.
April 28, 2006 the USTR released its annual Special 301 Report and announced to conduct a special provincial review.
“The goal of this review is to spotlight strengths, weaknesses, and inconsistencies, in and among specific jurisdictions, and to inform the Special 301 Review of China as a whole.“
“Jurisdictions at the provincial level might include in addition to China’s provinces (sheng), the four municipalities (shi) of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin, as well as China’s five autonomous regions (zizhiqu).“
If the transparency increases at a regional level, countries can treat the regions that protect and enforce IPR adequately in a preferential way.
Read more here.
Richard Brubaker of All Roads Lead to China included the following question, while conducting a 20 city survey on manufacturing: “Are there any specific cases where IPR suits have been filed, and what was the outcome?” Read the results of the survey for Ningbo, Wuhan, Xian, Xiamen, Nanjing and Chendu here.
