Supported by the U.S. Consulate General of Guangzhou, the 2008 Pearl River Forum on Intellectual Property and Innovation was held on July 15, 2008 in Guangzhou, China.
The forum was sponsored by the Intellectual Property Office of Guangdong Province (GD IPO), the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the Intellectual Property Office of Guangzhou Municipality (GZ IPO) as adjunct sponsor.
The attendees (lifeofguangzhou.com)
Deputy Director General of the GD IPO, Mr. Zhu Wanchang, gave the opening address, saying that the gross import and export value in Guangdong covers 1/3 of China. In addition, America is the second largest import and export partner with Guangdong Province, so further IPR development is crucial for both China and the US.
After the successfully held Sino-US IPR Forums in 2005 and 2006, Consul General of the US in Guangzhou, Mr. Robert Goldberg, re-emphasized the importance of IPR: "Today we lay out the challenges of IPR in an attempt to find a way to protect innovation, which is not just the work of one government alone."
Presenters at the forum included United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Larry J. McKinney, as well as representatives from Caterpillar, Huawei Technologies, Procter & Gamble, Hong Kong Productivity Council, IBM, ZTE, CISCO, Johnson & Johnson, Zhongshan University and so on.
The attendees (lifeofguangzhou.com)
Addressing cost efficiency of Intellectual Property Filing, P & G representative Brenda J. Panichi said that "cost over the 20 year life of a broadly filed patent can exceed 600,000 USD." As worldwide owner of 37,500 active patents, P & G uses the Patent Cooperation Treaty for portfolio management.
Zhang Yan, senior counsel of IBM China said "80% of the value of modern companies comes from intangible assets." As the No. 1 holder of US patents for 15 years and the only US firm in China's Top 10 Foreign Filers List for five years, IBM emphasized "balanced innovation" at the forum, including the protection of IP rights, but not over protecting or under protecting such rights. Universities and companies should also be encouraged to work together in solving difficult problems.
Su Weiwei, presenter from the Guangzhou Quality R&D Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine, introduced various changes for patents at the forum, namely seeking enterprise cooperation upon attaining patents, specifying the purpose of applications and making good choices with enterprises.
Click to read the Chinese version
(Reported by Zhu Yanshan, Stephen Roach)
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