2012 AIPPI China/Asia IP Seminar was held successfully in Beijing from April 10 to 12, 2012, under the joint sponsorship of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) and its China branch (AIPPI China), the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). It is the first that AIPPI ever held such a symposium in China.

On the opening ceremony on April 11, Mr. Ma Hao, President of CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office made an opening speech in the capacity of Vice President of AIPPI China. On the 11th and 12th, IP experts, scholars, lawyers and judges as well as attendees from every part of the world discussed some matters including hot topics of patent practice in China, enforcement of standard essential patents, protection of design patents, online trademark infringement, trademark administrative lawsuits in China and the requirement of genuine use to maintain trademark protection.

On the seminar, two mock courts were held to demonstrate the hearing of the IP administrative lawsuit in China. The mock court on patents was sponsored by China Patent Agency (H.K.) Limited. The court on cancellation of a trademark based on non-use for three consecutive years was sponsored by CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office, involving such matters as whether OEM (manufacturing exclusively for export from China) constitutes use of a trademark, whether the use of the trademark on a single product covers all the goods claimed by the trademark, whether new evidence provided in the litigation proceedings shall be accepted and whether a commercial offer on magazine is the use of the trademark under the Trademark Law. The mock court was chaired by Zhou Zhongqi, Vice President of CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office, with the panelists of Chen Jinchuan, Senior Judge of IP Tribunal of Beijing High People’s Court, Ren Gang, Vice Counsel of the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board and Zhou Zhongqi. The trademark attorneys from the trademark department of CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office assumed the duties of agents for the appellants and defendants. Mr.Kenichi Nagasawa, Director and Group Executive of Japan Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Ms. Karen Abraham of Shearn Delamore & Co. and Mr. Steven Garland, President of the Canadian Group of AIPPI commented on the hearing in the mock court and also introduced the examination practices on similar cases in their own countries to the attendees.

The closing ceremony of the seminar was hosted by Mr. Li Yong, Vice President of AIPPI China and Mr. Stephan Freischem, Secretary General of AIPPI made the closing speech, expressing great congratulations to the successful seminar in China and thanks to all the sponsors.