On Feb 11, the 13th China IP International Annual Forum & 2023 Annual Conference of In-house IP Managers in China concluded at the Broadcasting Tower Hotel Beijing. With the theme of "Grasping Opportunities & Forging Through", the Forum this year focused on the IP management and legal compliance of enterprises in the post-pandemic era and summarized and looked into the future challenges and opportunities for the IP industry in China.

The hybrid forum is mainly composed of six parts including a Summit of China Intellectual Property Trends, a Forum of China IP Management of Practice, an IP Judges Forum discussing the draft Amendment of the Chinese Trademark Law, two sub-forums about legal issues related to cable TV and IPTV rebroadcasting and the video infringement compensation and the application of punitive damages, as well as an awarding ceremony. Judges, scholars, and top IP practitioners gathered across the country to share their insights.

At the opening ceremony, Guohe, Vice President and Secretary General of the China Intellectual Property Law Association of CLS and Dean of School of Intellectual Property, Renmin University of China affirmed China IP for its consistent organizing principle of adapting to new environments, solving new problems, and responding to new challenges since the forum was first held in 2011.

Qin Yuanming, Presiding Judge of the Civil Adjudication Tribunal No.3 (IPR Division) of the Supreme People's Court and Deputy Director-General of the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office, introduced the brilliant achievements of China's IP protection work in 2022.

In addition, AIPPI President Shoichi OKUYAMA and INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo addressed online and sent their best wishes at the opening ceremony. Shoichi OKUYAMA said that during the post-pandemic era, “the economic growth and well-being of the public will depend more on the development of new technologies and innovations. The sound IP system will have an increasingly important role. New key technologies are emerging. Such emergence will be supported by proper IP protection.” 

Etienne Sanz de Acedo commended the Chinese government and judiciary for taking all positive steps to improve the environment for brand owners and consumers, and also, for raising the fundamental role that IP plays in society and in driving economic growth and innovation.

Following the opening ceremony, the Summit of China Intellectual Property Trends was hosted by Tommy Zhang, president and chief editor of China IP Magazine.

Ma Yide, Professor of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered a speech with the theme of "Accelerating the Construction of a New IP Talent Training Pattern". Ma shared his thoughts on the formation of China's IP talent training system, the current situation and the deficiency of IP talent training, as well as how to build a new pattern of IP talent training.

Huang Yong, Professor of School of Law of University of International Business and Economics and Member of Advisory Group of Experts under the Anti-Monopoly Commission of the State Council, made his speech about the balance between Intellectual property and anti-monopoly. Huang interpreted the literal conflict between the anti-monopoly Law and the IP rights itself as legal monopoly rights, as well as the conflict in the connotation, understanding, trial and definition.

Gu Xin, chief expert of IP Development and Research Center of the CNIPA, made a speech on “How to Construct Chinese IP Protection Rules on Data”. Gu put forward that the main task of formulating data property rights policy is to further refine the rules of "data use right" based on the existing legal system, so as to realize the efficient circulation and use of data, and give full play to the value of data elements.

Liu Chao, Patent Director of legal Department of Xiaomi Group, expressed his opinions on how intellectual property can enable enterprise development with his rich IP practice experience in Xiaomi.

Wen Ming, Vice President of Purplevine IP Group, looked back from a different perspective at some of the intellectual property events around the world over the past few years and discussed the trends in the global economy and innovation.

Gu Haiyan, General Manager of Legal Department of Sina Group, delivered a speech on data compliance challenges and solutions. She mentioned that data is a liquid asset. It is a very important task for enterprises to give full play to data in the production and operation process.

Chen Jianmin, Litigation Director of Beijing Gaowo Law Firm, expressed her views from the perspective of protecting IP rights with high-quality legal services.

The Forum of China IP Management of Practice commenced in the afternoon. Xie Chenyang, deputy president and chief legal officer of Foxconn Industrial Internet Corporation, shared the overview of intelligent manufacturing industry and the relevant IP profile. He also reported the IP trend in three fields including AI, IoT and cloud computing.

Zheng Jinfeng, General Manager of RWS (China), pointed out problems faced by the service institutions in the changing environment, namely, vicious competition in the market, insufficient market demand, lack of high-end talents and then explored the connection between these problems.

Bai Li, Deputy General Manager of Technology Management and Legal Affairs Department of China Mobile Research Institute, discussed how to make high-quality joint innovation. Bai made specific interpretations from four aspects: strengthening high-quality IP, improving the ability to acquire IP rights, optimizing the cooperative management of joint innovation partners, and improving the ability to respond to risks.

Zhang Rui, founder and CEO of Beijing Mozlen Technology Co., LTD, explored the new trend of “AI Digitalization in Trademark Management and Service". Zhang discussed the effective and quick solutions that can be offered by Mozlen.

Xue Qi, Managing Partner of Shanghai Beshining Law Firm, shared his view on patent writing. He mainly explained the importance, methods and principles, and taboos during the communication process between patent agents and their clients.

The IP Judges Forum this year discussed China’s fifth draft amendment to the Trademark Law. The Draft Amendment to the Trademark Law was issued on 13 January 2023 by CNIPA for public consultations and comments. This is the 5th Amendment to the Chinese Trademark Law which, since first came into effect in 1983, has experienced four Amendments respectively in 1993, 2001, 2013 and 2019. At the forum, the participants had in-depth exchanges and discussions on the problems arising in the application of the Trademark Law since it was enacted in 1983.