Recently representatives of Awapatent participated in the China Intellectual Property Focus 2012 conference in Shanghai. Our participation is a part of our effort to make Awapatent’s name known in China, but we also believe that it is important to contribute to the growing IP awareness in China. Accordingly, Mikael Bergstrand from our Malmö office gave a speech on how to draft a patent application, which will be successful outside China, and we were also among the conference sponsors. Other speakers focused on how to put patents and trademarks to practical use, so that they are not “just documents hanging on the wall for decoration” as one speaker put it, and shared their IP litigation experiences. It may safely be concluded that there is a great interest in expanding the protection of Chinese innovation to other countries and in becoming better at making innovations profitable by licensing and selling IP rigths.
The increased focus on IP in China is reflected in many ways. During this trip, which started in Beijing, the most surprising example was the banner shown on the photo. It was hanging at the entrance to the Silk Market, which is notoriously known as one of the places, where you may come across surprisingly cheap “Rolex” watches or maybe even an iPhone6. Though some vendors had apparently entered via another entrance and not seen the banner, it is clear that the IP situation in China is improving rapidly, not least due to a push from Chinese companies beginning to realize the importance of being able to protect their own innovations.
Future trips to China will most certainly reveal many other thought-provoking displays of IP awareness and we will make sure to share them with you!
Vibeke Warberg Rohde, European Patent Attorney
