Hangzhou hosts global IP conference

International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property World Congress opens

The 2024 International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property World Congress kicks off on Saturday in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, with nearly 2,300 participants from 92 countries and regions.

Themed around the balanced protection and innovation development of IP rights, the event is mainly organized by the association, or the AIPPI, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

A diverse array of activities will be held from Saturday to Tuesday, including the plenary session, the AIPPI executive committee meeting and more than 30 seminars, panel sessions and lunch meetings.

It is the first time that the annual event is taking place in China since the association was founded 127 years ago, reflecting international recognition of China's IP industry development, Yu Jianlong, vice-chairman of the CCPIT, said at a news conference earlier this month.

Yu added that the event marked a milestone for China's engagement in global IP governance and will foster more exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries in the IP sector.

Of the participants, more than 1,500 are from overseas, including Shoichi Okuyama, president of the AIPPI; Lisa Jorgenson, deputy director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization; Antonio Campinos, president of the European Patent Office; and IP authorities from Japan and the United States.

This year's panel sessions will delve into not only such fields as patents, trademarks and copyrights, but IP protection in different jurisdictions and industries, organizers said.

Judges and officials from IP departments will introduce the latest developments in China's IP rights examination and protection at a panel session on Sunday morning.

During the session on e-commerce to be held on Monday, representatives from leading Chinese internet companies such as Tencent, ByteDance and Alibaba will discuss how to handle IP disputes about e-commerce platforms and social media.

Focusing on these professional, complicated IP issues, the panel sessions are not only conducive to international cooperation on IP protection, but help prevent unhealthy expansion or abuse of IP rights, making IP a positive driving force for economic growth and people's well-being, said Long Chuanhong, director of the CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office.

As part of the congress, Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court heard a patent infringement case on Friday, enabling foreign participants to learn about the professionalism and authority of judicial protection for IP rights in China.

A highlight of the event is a matchmaking activity, which will bring together foreign representatives of the AIPPI to help more Hangzhou enterprises access international IP resources.

Other activities include cultural performances, light shows and a trip to the China National Silk Museum only for women in the AIPPI.

Robust progress

By the end of 2023, China had set a new global benchmark with 4.99 million valid invention patents, including some 4.02 million patents from the Chinese mainland.

Data from the China National Intellectual Property Administration show that it authorized 921,000 invention patents in 2023, while a total of 4.38 million trademarks were registered.

IP has emerged as a key driver for research and innovation, playing a vital role in China's high-quality development strategy, said officials from the CNIPA.

According to the Global Innovation Index 2024, a report released by the WIPO in September, China has ranked first for the second consecutive year in terms of the number of global top 100 science and technology clusters, the report said.

Information technology methods for management, computer technology and basic communication programs were fastest-growing industries in terms of granted invention patents, with a year-on-year increase of 59.4 percent, 39.3 percent and 30.8 percent respectively, according to data from the CNIPA.

The growth highlights China's innovations in digital technology, pushing forward the high-quality development of the digital economy, said Hu Wenhui, deputy commissioner of the CNIPA. The scale of China's digital economy was nearly 54 trillion yuan ($7.58 trillion) and contributed more than 40 percent of the country's GDP in 2023.

By the end of 2023, there were 427,000 enterprises in China with valid invention patents, which contributed to about 71 percent of the national total invention patents. Most of them are national high-tech companies and small and medium-sized sci-tech enterprises.

To strengthen IP protection and offer companies better IP-related services, the country is building the first batch of 10 national IP protection demonstration zones in cities and districts, such as Hangzhou and Nanjing in Jiangsu province.

It has a total of 47 rapid IP protection centers, including some under construction, where businesses can deal with their IP disputes in a more convenient manner.

Additionally, notable progress has been made in enhancing IP review efficiency. The average time spent on reviewing an invention patent was 16 months in 2023, shorter than that of the US, Japan and South Korea. Meanwhile, the average time for trademark application review stood at four months.

zhanglinwan@chinadaily.com.cn