The 2024 International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property World Congress was held from October 19 to 22 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, with nearly 2,300 participants from 92 countries and regions. Themed on the balanced protection and innovation development of IP rights, the event is organized by the Association (using the French abbreviation AIPPI) and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). Congress activities included the plenary session, the AIPPI executive committee meeting, and more than 30 seminars, panel sessions and lunch meetings. It is the first time that the annual event is taking place in China since the Association was founded 127 years ago, reflecting international recognition of China’s IP development, Yu Jianlong, Vice Chairman of the CCPIT, said at a news conference earlier this month. Yu added that the event marked a milestone for China’s engagement in global IP governance and will foster more exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries in the IP sector. More than 1,500 of the participants were from overseas, including Shoichi Okuyama, President of the AIPPI; Lisa Jorgenson, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); Antonio Campinos, President of the European Patent Office; and IP authorities from Japan and the United States.
Panel sessions discussed patents, trademarks and copyrights, as well as IP protection in different jurisdictions and industries, organizers said. Judges and officials from IP departments introduced the latest developments in China’s IP rights examination and protection. During a session on e-commerce, representatives from leading Chinese internet companies such as Tencent, ByteDance and Alibaba discussed how to handle IP disputes about e-commerce platforms and social media. Focusing on these professional, complicated IP issues, the panel sessions are not only conducive to international cooperation on IP protection, but help prevent unhealthy expansion or abuse of IP rights, making IP a positive driving force for economic growth and people’s well-being, said Long Chuanhong, Director of the CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office.
As part of the congress, Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court heard a patent infringement case on September 18, enabling foreign participants to learn about the professionalism and authority of judicial protection for IP rights in China. A highlight of the event was a matchmaking activity, bringing together foreign representatives of the AIPPI to help more Hangzhou enterprises access international IP resources. Other activities included cultural performances, light shows and a trip to the China National Silk Museum for women members of AIPPI.
By the end of 2023, China had set a new global benchmark with 4.99 million valid invention patents, including some 4.02 million patents from the Chinese mainland. Data from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) show that it authorized 921,000 invention patents in 2023, while a total of 4.38 million trademarks were registered. IP has emerged as a key driver for research and innovation, playing a vital role in China’s high-quality development, CNIPA officials said. According to the Global Innovation Index 2024, a report released by the WIPO in September, China was ranked first for the second consecutive year in terms of the number of global top 100 science and technology clusters, the report said.
Information technology for management, computer technology and basic communication programs were fastest-growing sectors in terms of granted invention patents, with a year-on-year increase of 59.4%, 39.3% and 30.8% respectively, according to data from the CNIPA. The growth highlights China’s innovations in digital technology. The scale of China’s digital economy was nearly CNY54 trillion and contributed more than 40% of the country’s GDP in 2023. By the end of 2023, there were 427,000 enterprises in China with valid invention patents, which contributed about 71% of the national total invention patents. Most of them are national high-tech companies and small and medium- sized sci-tech enterprises.
To strengthen IP protection and offer companies better IP-related services, 10 national IP protection demonstration zones have been set up in cities and districts, such as Hangzhou and Nanjing in Jiangsu province. China has a total of 47 rapid IP protection centers, including some under construction, where businesses can deal with their IP disputes in a more convenient manner. Additionally, notable progress has been made in enhancing the efficiency of IP reviews. The average time spent on reviewing an invention patent was 16 months in 2023, shorter than that of the U.S., Japan and South Korea. Meanwhile, the average time for trademark application reviews stood at four months, the China Daily reports.
