A group of experts has called on the government to adopt a set of 100 drastic reform steps to protect intellectual property rights as part of efforts to make Japan a world leader in the knowledge-oriented economy by 2010.

A report by the 11-member Intellectual Property Strategic Forum recommends action in seven areas -- universities, education, corporate governance, administration, foreign policy, legislation and jurisdiction.

On foreign policy, the group, led by Toshimitsu Arai, a former chief of the Patent Office, urged the government to immediately take punitive action against China and Southeast Asian nations under the World Trade Organization's rules on intellectual property rights over the production and trade of illegal copies of goods.

"Makers of motorbikes, electronics and character goods, among others, are crying out for help. Particularly in China, about 70 percent of some 11 million motorbikes produced annually are copies of Japanese makers' products," the group said.

It also called for creation of a Japanese version of the U.S. International Trade Commission to prevent the inflow of copied products, or at minimum a revision of the customs tariff law this year to give companies the right to ask customs directors to stop imports of copies.

On corporate governance, the report urges the government to draw up guidelines similar to those on the environment to encourage firms to disclose their patent strategies.

Among other measures proposed were legislation to make theft of information an offense, the creation of courts and law schools dedicated to intellectual property, and tax breaks on income from such rights.

The report calls on the government to carry out these measures in three steps: drawing up a comprehensive strategy and revising related laws by 2004; launching the courts and law schools by 2008; and attaining global leadership in the knowledge economy by 2010.

"Although the government plans to use 24 trillion yen in five years for science and technology, it will be worthless unless the results are protected with patents," said Arai, now chairman of the semipublic Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.

The group was formed in August in response to a U.S. accusation of industrial espionage against two Japanese genetic scientists in May.