US requests WTO panel in copyright spat with China

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has asked the World Trade Organization to establish a dispute settlement panel in its row with China over alleged laxity in intellectual property protection, the US Trade Representative's office said yesterday.

The USTR said the move was the next step in its WTO case after three months of formal consultations with China had failed to resolve the trading partners' "differences arising from US concerns about inadequate protection of intellectual property rights in China," said USTR spokesman Sean Spicer.

"We will pursue this legal dispute in the WTO and will continue to work with China bilaterally on other important IPR issues," he said.