Dear Working Group Member,
The European Chamber is delighted to invite you to the next IPR Working Group Meeting in our Beijing and Shanghai offices on Thursday, 28th September, 09:15 to 11:00, to collect your opinions on the EU-China policy priorities in the IP domain and share the updates on the legislative process on the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (AUCL), the Patent Law and the Copyright law.
At this meeting, an introduction will be given to the EU-China IP Dialogue, a mechanism whose annual meetings allow for the direct exchange and action planning between EU and China in a high level, and the new session of the IP Key Project. As the IP Dialogue – EU-China IP Working Group Meeting will be hold later this year, the EU Delegation to China and the project team would highly appreciate your input on IP priorities and activities.
The second part of the discussion will focus on the latest legislative progress of the AUCL, the Patent Law, and the Copyright law. The Chamber has been closely monitoring the developments concerning the legislations mentioned, and we would like to invite you to share information with you peers and plan on our future lobby actions.
Tentative agenda
09:15 – 09:20 Welcome remarks by the Chair of the IPR Working Group
09:20 – 10:20 Presentation on EU-China IP Dialogue & IP Key Project and Call for Opinions on the EU-China IP Policy Priorities
10:20 – 11:00 Roundtable discussion on the latest updates on the AUCL, Patent Law, and Copyright law
If you would like to attend this meeting, we kindly ask you to register here or with Ms Alexandra Pop in Shanghai at aapop@europeanchamber.com.cn.
EU-China IP Dialogue and IP Key Project
The EU-China IP Dialogue was set up in 2004 and is supported by the EU-China Working Group, which meets twice annually. As a platform for bilateral cooperation, it facilitates high-level direct exchange and action planning between the EU and the government of China, and contributes towards establishing a working environment between the two partners based on transparency, predictability and equality. The IP Key project is the EU’s financial vehicle for cooperation, focused on the development of an IPR framework in China that is effective, fair, transparent, and based upon international best practices.
Legislative Updates on the AUCL, Patent Law, and Copyright law
The EU-China cooperation in the IPR domain contributed to the evolution of China’s IPR protection legal framework especially through legislative exchanges, peer exchanges and comparative analysis. However, there is a general consensus that much more needs to be done in order to speed up the modernisation of this framework. Recently, the 2nd amendment draft of the AUCL has been released for public consultation, with focuses on protection of trade secrets, internet-related unfair competition, and civil compensation liabilities. The 4th amendment draft of the Patent Law submitted for comments in 2015 is currently undergoing review, and is expected to underscore enforcement, thus offering more support to technological innovation in China. The Copyright Law, on the other hand, has registered the slowest recent progress among the three, with two proposed 3rd amendment drafts focused on enhancing enforcement capabilities issued in 2012, but with no further updates since.
