On 1 June 2018, the European Union (EU) filed a lawsuit against China before the World Trade Organization (WTO), for alleged violations of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Specifically, the European Commission sued China before the WTO for “undermining the intellectual property rights of European companies”, this, because once they arrive in China are forced to grant ownership or rights of use of its technology to Chinese national entities, a matter that violates the WTO principle of treating foreign companies on an equal footing.
The suit follows the line of a similar action filed in March 2018 by the United States, in which stated that China “breaks the WTO rules by denying patents of foreign applicants”, in order to allow Chinese companies the use of technology potentially susceptible to protection.
