Earlier today EPO President António
Campinos and Commissioner Shen Changyu of the China National Intellectual
Property Administration (CNIPA) held their annual high-level bilateral meeting.
The two heads of office convened via videoconference to discuss recent
developments at both offices and at the global IP level, as well as future
co-operation between the two strategic partners.
The heads welcomed exchanges
between experts at both offices. Throughout 2021, EPO and CNIPA shared information
on several topics including legal frameworks, practices and procedures,
classification, tools and services, academies, and the Boards of Appeal.
Looking back at the highlights of
2021, the two heads agreed that the first year of the EPO-CNIPA pilot on
International Searching Authority (ISA) files had been a success. Its
implementation ran smoothly and provided valuable insight for both organisations.
The pilot enables nationals and residents of the P.R. China to select the EPO
as their ISA when filing international patent applications under the PCT for
which either the CNIPA or the World Intellectual Property Organization’s
International Bureau acts as receiving office. Next year, the pilot will focus
on simplifying fee payments, improving electronic communication with users, and
accelerating the search and examination process. The EPO and CNIPA intend to
discuss future steps at the end of the two-year pilot phase.
The EPO President invited
Commissioner Shen to attend the annual IP5 meeting that the Office will host in
June 2022. He also encouraged both offices to work together on a key strategic
topic: raising awareness of IP’s role in driving sustainable economic recovery.
Both leaders agreed that fostering and protecting innovation will be
instrumental in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Commissioner Shen updated his
counterpart on recent IP policy developments in China (and abroad) over the
next five to ten years. The Commissioner spoke on the implementation of the
Government „Guidelines for Building a Powerful Intellectual Property Country
(2021-2035)“ and the „14th National IP Development Plan“. China aims
to accelerate its transformation, improve patent quality, increase the market
value of IP rights, and grow the share of GDP produced by patent-intensive
industries.
To conclude the meeting, President
Campinos and Commissioner Shen signed the EPO-CNIPA annual workplan for 2022 as
well as the agreement to extend CNIPA’s use of EPOQUE Net by another year.