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| Author: Unknown US serviceman or woman Licence Dedicated to the public courtesy of US Government |
Jane Lambert
There is an awful lot of rubbish spoken about IP rights in China so here are some facts:-
- In 2015 some 2.9 million patents were applied for throughout the world (an increase of 8% over the 2.7 million applications the previous year). Of those 2.9 million, China accounted for 1.1 million (an increase of 18.7% over the 928,177 sought the previous year). The USA was number two in both 2014 and 2015 with 587,802 and 589,410 respectively and Japan came third with 325,989 in 2014 and 318,721 in 2015. How many patents did we seek during those years? A mere 23,040 in 2014. I have been unable to find figures for Britsh patent applications in 2015 (sources page 7 World Intellectual Property Indicators 2016 published by the WIPO and Building the Evidence Base on the Performance of the UK Patent System published by the IPO).
- According to the WIPO China is also number 1 on trade mark, industrial design and utility model applications (ibid).
- According to Gabriela Kennedy, a partner of the international law firm Mayer Brown JSM, China enforces the intellectual property rights that have been granted by SIPO (its national intellectual property office). She writes in the current issue of her firm's IP and TMT Quarterly Review that
"As of 2016, 224 Intermediate People’s Courts and 167 Basic People’s Courts have been designated as having jurisdiction over the hearing of IP-related matters. Between 1985 to 2016, the People’s Courts accepted 792,851 civil IP cases and concluded 766,101 cases. Between 1998 to 2016, the People’s Courts accepted 77,116 criminal IP cases and concluded 76,174 cases."So much for the urban myth that China does not invent or create anything but instead copies other countries' technology and other intellectual assets.
China is already an important trading partner. Under its One Belt One Road programme (which I mentioned briefly in my article on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in NIPC Brexit), it plans to invest trillions of pounds into new roads, railways, ports and other infrastructure projects between now and 2049. Some of that money could be invested in new technologies such as a 4,000 km/h train hovering above the tracks (see Steve Hanley China Proposes 4000 km/h Flying Train As Part Of Its One Belt, One Road Plan 11 Sept 2017 CleanTechnica). As magnetic levitation and graphene were invented in the UK, there is no reason why businesses in this country could not get a share of the research work to develop, manufacture and install that train) as well as supply a range of other goods and services.
But British businesses will only be able to do that if their inventions, designs and brands are protected adequately in China. As few British business people and their professional advisors speak Mandarin that is not easy to do. Happily, we do have a senior diplomat in our embassy in Beijing who does speak that language and is well connected with officials and advisors in the Peoples' Republic who can help.
That diplomat is Mr Tom Duke. He will be in Leeds between 09:30 and 12:00 and Barnsley between 14:30 and 16:30 to address business owners, creatives, designers. entrepreneurs, innovators and investors on how to protect and make money from their brands, designs, technology and works of art and literature in China. His meeting at Leeds will take place at Northern Ballet at Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PA and the meeting in Barnsley at Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre, Innovation Way, Barnsley, S75 1JL You can find full details in Meet our IP Attaché to China 21 July 2017.
There are still one or two spaces in Leeds and a few more in Barnsley but you will have to move fast. Call 020 7404 5252 or email my clerk Steve Marshall without delay if you want to book your place. We look forward to seeing you there.
