On October 16, 2019, the “Parallel Forum of IP of ZGC Forum 2019 - IP Activating High Quality Development of Economy” sponsored by the Beijing Municipal IP Office, ZGC Group and Bank of Beijing and hosted by Beijing IP Operation and Management Co., Ltd. (Beijing IP) was held in the exhibition center of ZGC National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone.

Liang Chunhua, deputy director of the Department for Promoting the Application of IP Rights of SIPO, Xu Wei, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal IP Office, Liu Hang, deputy inspector of the Administrative Committee of Zhongguancun Science Par, Yao Shengli, deputy general manager of ZGC Group, Chen Jinchuan, vice president of Beijing IP Court, Grant Rodney Philpott, COO of the European Patent Office, Eiichi YAMAMOTO, director of the IP Department of the Beijing Representative Office of the Japan External Trade Organization, Dai Wei, assistant president of Bank of Beijing and director of Corporate Business, Sun Bin, vice president and Chief Legal Officer of Xiaomi Group, Lv Guoliang, former deputy director of WIPO’s China Office and adviser of WIPO’s China Office, and Xie Hongxing, director of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, were present at the meeting. The Forum was hosted by Zhang Jian, chairman of Beijing IP. Nearly 100 people from the government departments, universities, science and technology enterprises, IP service institutions, financial institutions, law firms, industry associations and alliances, news media, etc. participated in the event.

The Forum featured “Internationalization, Specialization and Leadership”. Through speeches, achievements release, cooperation execution and keynote speeches, the Forum shared and exchanged the experience and outlook of IP to boost economic construction, and jointly discussed the new thinking, new methods and new trends of IP to escort the development of the industry, so as to better serve the global scientific and technological innovation and high-quality development.

Liang Chunhua, deputy director of the Department for Promoting the Application of IP Rights of SIPO, said in the speech that in recent years, the State IP Office has taken a series of powerful measures in the protection and utilization of IP to further play the role of IP in stimulating the economic competitiveness, especially in the protection of IP, and formulated the Opinions on Strengthening the Protection of IP, which has been deliberated and approved by the Central Committee for Deepening Overall Reform. The Trademark Law has been revised in coordination, and the maximum amount of compensation for malicious infringement of trademark has been increased from three times to five times, and the legal maximum amount of compensation has been increased from RMB 30,000 to 5 million, so as to control trademark applications that are not intended for use. The revision of the Patent Law will be accelerated to introduce a system of punitive damages for infringement, which will substantially raise the cost of infringement. 

Xu Wei, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal IP Office, pointed out in his speech that Beijing has always taken IP as an important starting point to strengthen the scientific and technological innovation, improve the quality of urban development, and enhance the capital’s international influence, achieved remarkable results in the protection and application of IP, formed a situation of IP protection involving the government, enterprises, social organizations and the public, actively explored and practiced financial innovation measures of IP that meet the needs of innovative entrepreneurs, and carried out work such as IP operation fund for key industries, patent insurance and pilot projects of patent pledge financing insurance.

Yao Shengli, deputy general manager of ZGC Development Group, mentioned in his speech that ZGC Development Group insists on serving innovation and development as its mission, allocates innovative resources worldwide through the application of park, investment, finance, professional services and other means, and promotes the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. As an important part of the Group’s efforts to build a world-class innovative ecological integration service provider, Beijing IP has achieved many domestic initiatives in the fields of high-value patent cultivation and operation, IP big data analysis, and IP investment and financing services. Under the new situation, we will continue to strengthen the IP services around the players of mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and help building a national science and technology innovation center in Beijing.

The forum also released the Review of Beijing IP Court’s Trial of Foreign-related IP Cases Chen Jinchuan, vice president of Beijing IP Court, held the releasing. This Review has summarized the relevant data on foreign-related IP cases from the establishment of the Beijing IP Court in November 2014 to the first half of 2019. It mainly presents the following characteristics: firstly, the proportion of foreign-related cases is high, involving a wide range of areas, reflecting the close ties between Beijing and even the national economy and the world. Secondly, technology cases mostly involve new technologies and new industries, reflecting the importance of scientific and technological innovation in international competition. Thirdly, there are many cases involving international well-known trademarks and trade names. It can be seen that the competition between domestic and foreign brands is increasingly fierce. Fourthly, the number of foreign enterprises complaining to each other in Beijing has increased, reflecting that Beijing has gradually become the “preferred place” for the protection of IP rights. Fifthly, the number of domestic subjects suing foreign subjects has increased, reflecting that the domestic economy has gradually entered a new stage of transformation and development. Sixthly, the standard of compensation for damages to IP rights has been continuously improved, reflecting the increasing protection of IP rights in recent years. Seventhly, insisting on equal protection of domestic and foreign subjects in accordance with the laws is conducive to the further optimization of Beijing’s business environment.

At the signing ceremony, the Bank of Beijing, Beijing IP and four prospective lenders including Yonder Environment Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Automic Technology Co., Ltd., AddNewer (Beijing) Corporation and Beijing CPOAO Co., Ltd. signed cooperation agreements of IP financial services. According to reports, the Bank of Beijing has been exploring the IP pledge loan business since 2003, and took the lead in introducing the exclusive IP pledge financing product “IP Right Loan” in 2008. Beijing IP, as the first state-owned platform dedicated to IP operation initiated by the government in China, has actively cracked the IP financing problem of small, medium and micro enterprises. In 2016, Beijing IP launched the country’s first “pure” IP pledge financing product “IP Financer”, providing all-round service of “IP operation + investment and loan linkage” for the innovative and entrepreneurial players. In 2017, the Bank of Beijing and Beijing IP started their cooperation, bringing “IP Financer” into “IP Right Loan”, through the application of the concept of IP operation, explored and solved the pain points of IP pledge financing in terms of risk identification and value judgment, and achieved fruitful results. This spectacular event of agreement execution has reflected the cooperation between the two sides, and is also the beginning of continuing to promote cooperation in the IP financial services.

The keynote speech was the highlight of this Forum. From the perspectives of creation, protection and application of IP rights, and in combination with their respective working practices, the speakers shared the latest exploration and practical results of enabling high-quality economic development of IP rights from a global perspective. The content of the speech has a positive effect on strengthening the awareness of IP protection and application as well as improving the level of IP work ability of various subjects such as high-tech enterprises, colleges and universities.

Grant Rodney Philpott, COO of the European Patent Office (EPO), delivered a speech on the theme of “Providing Legal Certainty through Commitment to High-quality Patented Products and Services”. Mr. Grant Rodney Philpott introduced the number and development trend of European patent applications, the distribution of European patent applicants, the fast path of European patent applications, EPO’s measures to improve the quality of patent examination, etc.

He Mingang, general manager of Beijing IP, shared the “Construction of Zhongguancun IP Operation System from A Global Perspective”. He Mingang pointed out that Zhongguancun is the birthplace of China’s IP operation, and Beijing IP is the first state-owned institution of China’s IP operation as well as the forerunner of China’s IP operation. In light of the exploration and practical experience of Beijing IP since its establishment five years ago and the current situation faced by domestic IP operation, he analyzed in-depth the advantages and foundation of Zhongguancun IP operation, and expressed his thoughts on the functional orientation and future development direction of Beijing IP based on the current construction status of Zhongguancun IP operation system.

Eiichi YAMAMOTO, director of IP of the Beijing Representative Office of Japan External Trade Organization, delivered a speech on “Japan’s IP Innovation Strategy”. Mr. Eiichi YAMAMOTO introduced Japan’s latest measures in improving its IP system, building a patent examination system, and supporting start-up enterprises based on actual cases.

Dai Wei, assistant to the president of the Bank of Beijing and director of corporate business, shared “Activating Intellectual Assets to Gather Innovation Momentum”. Mr. Dai gave a brief introduction to the basic situation of the Bank of Beijing, and focused on the practical experience and achievements of the Bank of Beijing in its exploration of IP pledge loan business in recent years. He pointed out that promoting the development of IP pledge financing business has become a national strategy and a consensus of all circles. The Bank of Beijing will further strengthen its innovation in the field of IP financial services, create a new ecology of IP financial services in the new era, and help China’s manufacturing industry moving towards the world.

Lv Guoliang, former deputy director of the China Office of the World IP Organization (WIPO) and consultant of the WIPO China office, gave a speech on the theme of “Global Trends in IP Protection and Application”. Mr. Lv Guoliang interpreted the global trend of patent application quantity and quality status via many sets of detailed data, and pointed out that the importance of IP rights in the current commercial economy is becoming more and more prominent, and the importance of IP rights in various countries is constantly increasing.

Xie Hongxing, director of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance, gave a speech on “Scientific and Technological Innovation and IP Protection in Environmental Industry”. Director Xie introduced the importance of patent strategy to the development of the industry and the expansion of overseas markets via hot cases in the patent field and the practical experience of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance. He also shared the successful experiences and practices of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance around the cultivation and operation of high-value patents.

Sun Bin, vice president and chief legal officer of Xiaomi Group, delivered a speech on the theme of “Industrial Change - Global IP Strategy”. Mr. Sun introduced the current situation and trend of the global “AI + 5G” industry development, and analyzed in-depth the problems faced by the industry development from the perspective of IP rights, as well as the reflection on the challenges.