The first IP workshop among China, Japan and South Korea kicks off in Beijing

The first intellectual property (IP) workshop among China, Japan and South Korea was recently held in Beijing.

Co-hosted by China Intellectual Property Society, Intellectual Property Association of Japan and Korea Industrial Property Law Association, the event was organized by the Academic Advisory Committee of China Intellectual Property Society and was addressed by deputy commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office Gan Shaoning, among others.

Besides efforts of government to address IP challenges, enhanced communication and cooperation among civil societies in the three countries is also badly needed in this regard, said Gan, recommending civil groups in China, Japan and South Korea to explore potential solutions together by trying to understand each other's IP laws well and communicating on IP-related best practices. 

IP has become a new focus of economic growth that attracts the growing attention of countries in East Asia, as the importance of creation is globally widely recognized. IP is a global topic, where China, Japan and South Korea are sharing a great many common interests but also facing respective problems. The endeavors of academic groups in IP sector to promote exchange and understanding will be of great significance to the prosperous and healthy development of the whole region, he said.

Representatives from the Japan and South Korea also recognized the importance of trilateral communication and cooperation to improve IP regime, especially when the continual evolution in IP systems in the three countries, due to enormous changes in global economy, has been taken into account. 

During the one-day workshop, experts and other participants from the three countries actively exchanged ideas on the latest development of respective IP legal systems, among other hotspot topics. 

IP offices of the three countries established a dialogue mechanism among the three commissioners as early as in 2001, when they also signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation in IP field. Later in recent years, China Intellectual Property Society managed to sign agreements on international academic cooperation with Intellectual Property Association of Japan and Korea Industrial Property Law Association——both are non-governmental organizations——and thus formulated a framework for trilateral partnership among civil societies. [Chinese version is available on SIPO.gov.cn]