University of Helsinki
China IP Day III took place at the Finnish Embassy residence in Beijing on 17 December 2014. It was the third event that TransIP research project arranged to help the European community understand the IP landscape in China.
The event consisted of two panel sessions. In the first session, titled ‘IP law reform and innovation strategy in China’, the panelists gave speeches on current IP law reform in China. Prof. Weiguang Wu from Tsinghua University briefly recalled the history of IP legislation in China. He argued that China is experiencing the transformation from a power-regulated IP system to a right-regulated IP system. In the future, a more right-oriented IP system would be established in China. After him, Prof. Yuying Guan from CASS offered an overview on current IP law reform in China. She picked up some important IP issues such as punitive damages in China and remarked on the solutions for the issue in relevant IP law proposals or newly adopted IP laws. The third speaker, Prof. Peter Yu from Drake Law School explained the drivers of IP system in China. He also offered some suggestions for foreign companies on setting IP strategies in China. Lastly, Mr. Dan du’Homme gave the audience insights on the hot disputes such as patent subsidies, service inventions in China and how IP key project assists the government to make its policies concerning these issues. After these four speeches, Prof. Niklas Bruun chaired the panel discussion. All speakers showed their optimistic attitude toward the IP system in China. They believe that the IP system in China will be better in the future thanks to the growing demand from domestic industries.
The second panel session focused on the establishment of specialized IP courts in China. In this session, first Prof. Mingde Li explained the reasons to establish IP specialized courts, their jurisdiction and their functions. Then Judge Jiang Ying from Beijing IP court presented the organization, operation and the judicial design of these special IP courts, as well as the future function of the courts. The third speaker, Ms. Xi Chen from State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) discussed the Specialized IP courts from the perspective of an examiner. She pointed out some conflicting rules in the patent prosecution and in the patent litigation. She hoped that the rules will be more consistent and will offer more legal certainty for examiners and applicants through the decisions of the specialized IP courts. Lastly, Mr. Zhenhua Ni from King & Wood, expressed the expectations he holds from the specialized IP courts. He pointed out his dissatisfaction with some element of the current legal litigation such as the low-awarded compensation for the damage and the local protectionism. He hoped that the IP courts can at least solve some of these issues.
In the end, Mr. Mikko Puhakka from Lion partners offered some suggestions for both domestic and international companies on dealing with IP issues based on his experience as a venture capital based in China for more than 5 years.
Together with Finnish Embassy in Beijing, the project group happily saw more than 40 people, both from China and EU, attending this small event. As the audience express their appreciation to the organizers, the TRANSIP project will certainly arrange more seminars and workshops in the future to serve the need of the European, and especially Finnish, business community.
Authors: Yajie Zhao and He Kan