(From left to right: Dr. Yu Cao, Prof. Frans Greidanus, Prof. Can Huang, Prof. Suli Zheng, Ms. Elaine Wu, Prof. Guobin Cui)

From 23 to 25 September 2018, The Center for Intellectual Property (CIP) Forum was successfully held at Gothenburg University, Sweden. In its 8th edition, the forum focused on the topic of transformation and consisted of two sub-themes, 'digitization' (i.e., digital transformation) and 'globalization' (i.e., global transformation). Academics, senior corporate executives, policy-makers, professionals, and students attended the event, who shared their ideas, research, and experiences from a global perspective.

At the Forum, Professors Frans Greidanus, Can Huang and Suli Zheng, representing the Institute for Intellectual Property Management, actively participated in the Forum sessions. During the first session on 23 September, Prof. Huang and Prof. Greidanus organized a workshop on “Transformation of the Chinese Patent System”, in which Prof. Zheng was a speaker. Firstly, Prof. Huang kicked off the workshop by introducing the latest development of the Chinese patent system, such as legislative changes, patenting surge in China, and government`s subsidies for patenting. Afterwards Mr. Yu Cao, Vice President of Zhejiang IP Exchange Center, Ms. Elain Wu, Senior Counsel for China, Office of Policy and International Affairs, the US Patent and Trademark Office, and Prof. Guobin Gui, Associate Dean, School of Law, Tsinghua University, presented their views on the topics such as the direction of China in standardization, the challenges that patent holders face under the actual IP system and the challenges that policy makers should address in future reforms.

(Prof. Frans Greidanus gave a Keynote Speech)

On 25 September 2018, Prof. Greidanus gave the keynote speech “Chinese IP & Innovation Policy”, which presents an overview of the evolution of innovation in China, providing data from the mobile telephony and internet sector, R&D expenditures, patents and scientific publications in the country. In addition, he also discussed the activities of Chinese firms and policy making in the sector of Artificial Intelligence. Finally, Prof. Greidanus offered an extensive analysis on the evolution of China`s IP system.

(Second from left: Prof. Can Huang; Third from left: Prof. Guobin Cui)

Following the keynote speech, Prof. Huang was invited as a speaker in the session “IP and Innovation Within China and Between China and the West- Key Impact Areas”. The session continued the discussion on China`s IP ecosystem, identifying the factors that impact the creation and commercialization of IP in the country.

(Second from right: Prof. Suli Zheng)

Prof. Suli Zheng was a speaker at the “Evolving IP Ecosystem in China” session, which highlighted the critical aspects of the IP ecosystem in China, comparing the development of the country with others aiming at building mutual understanding. The forum provided an open platform for participants from academia and industry to discuss the challenges of the transformation to a knowledge economy, with particular attention to China`s IP system.