Brussels, 18/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - After having demonstrated greater flexibility on this dossier in his remarks reported on Monday by the Chinese press agency Xinhua (EUROPE 9408), Peter Mandelson now appeared to be taking a very tough line in the face of repeated violations of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China, where the victims happen to be European companies. Presenting his new market access strategy (see other article), the Commissioner for trade explained to the press that he was threatening to support Washington action against Beijing at the WTO for IPR infringements and explained, “I do not rule out initiating or joining action at the WTO if in our view China is failing to take its responsibilities seriously”. Last week the USA announced the launch of proceedings in Geneva to stem piracy throughout China of films, books, music and US software. Mr Mandelson added, “China has agreed to protect IPR. It did so when it joined the WTO (ED: in 2001) and despite considerable efforts by the Chinese government, the IPR protection in China remains patchy and uneven”. The Commissioner underlined that the Commission had introduced amendments to the new law on patents in China via the fruitful bilateral discussions on IPR but added that they would have to wait to see if this dialogue proved fruitful. Mandelson brandished the threat, as a last resort, of taking action in Geneva and asserted that, “Europe's patience could wear thin if we do not see our dialogue with the Chinese authorities delivering more change when it comes to IPR and other market access issues.”(eh)