Rethink(IP)

Under Secretary Dudas Addresses U.S. Chamber Intellectual Property Summit in Beijing and Also Meets with Heads of Chinese IP Offices(09APR2007)

Posted by Kristen Cichocki at April 9, 2007 01:58 PM

Under Secretary Dudas Addresses U.S. Chamber Intellectual Property Summit in Beijing and

Also Meets with Heads of Chinese IP Offices(09APR2007)

Meetings further deepen U.S. cooperation with Chinese IP Offices and speech outlines what governments are doing to address exponential worldwide growth in patent applications and intellectual property theft

The U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property (IP) and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Jon Dudas recently spoke at the Global Forum on Intellectual Property Rights Protection and Innovation in Beijing where he stressed the need for strong intellectual property protection and enforcement to foster innovation and wealth creation. The meeting in late March was hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and China’s Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

This was Mr. Dudas’ seventh trip to China to work on IP issues. He used the opportunity to meet with representatives of Chinese IP-related agencies to further bilateral cooperation on finding solutions to IP protection and enforcement challenges. Mr. Dudas met with Commissioner Tian Lipu of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), China's Patent Office for their second heads-of-offices meeting. The USPTO and SIPO have witnessed dramatic growth in patent application filings, and last year, the two agencies signed a work plan of strategic cooperation intended to reduce the workloads of both agencies and to further cooperation. Under the work plan, the USPTO has implemented an examiner exchange program and initiated an automation expert group meeting, as well as providing training to SIPO examiners and managers on biotechnology patent examination, examiner training and certification, and quality assurance. Cooperative programs planned for the future include training of SIPO examiners at the USPTO Patent Academy, a workshop on traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and folklore, and an IP enforcement program.

The USPTO is pursuing similar agreements for future office-to-office exchanges with China’s Trademark and Copyright Offices. While in China, Mr. Dudas met with Vice Minister Li Dongsheng of State Administration for Industry and Commerce to discuss trademark protection and enforcement. The two countries tentatively agreed to a number of joint programs on trademarks in 2007, including a May roundtable on the filing of abusive trademark applications, a June workshop on geographical indications, and trademark examination training at the USTPO in September.

Mr. Dudas and Vice Minister Liu Binjie of China’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) agreed to enhance institutional cooperation on copyrights by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be finalized in the next few months. Under the MOU, USPTO and GAPP will work together to exchange information on copyright matters, to exchange technical assistance, and work jointly to combat piracy. Mr. Dudas also secured agreement from GAPP to help resolve jurisdictional disputes that have hindered textbook piracy enforcement.

In addition, Mr. Dudas met with China’s Supreme People’s Court and State Council’s Legislative Affairs Office to discuss China’s judicial IP enforcement and pending amendments to China’s IP laws, as well technical exchanges and cooperation.

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