Official Launch The new EU-China Cooperation on Intellectual Property goes live

Ms Carmen Cano, Deputy Head of the European Delegation to China, Mr Zhang Xiangchen, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, and Mr António Campinos, President of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), today launched the New EU-China Cooperation on Intellectual Property.

Building on the solid foundations created by the previous EU-China projects IPR1 and IPR2, the a new action will be implemented over a period of three years by OHIM, the EU's largest intellectual property agency, in partnership the European Patent Office as partner. On the Chinese side will be the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce, coordinating the Chinese contribution to the cooperation action, with the participation of more than 15 Chinese IP authorities.

Carmen Cano, Deputy Head of EU Delegation said "Last year the European Union and China have celebrated 10 years of structured dialogue on IP issues, a fruitful decade punctuated by two successful IP projects and by a sound policy exchange between mature partners. The launch today of the IP-Key project witness the commitment of both parties to further strengthen their co-operation on IP issues with a view to making a fundamental contribution to the innovation of their respective economies."

Zhang Xiangchen, Assistant Minister of MOFCOM, said "China and the EU share extensive common interests in IPR protection and cooperation. China attaches great importance to the exchange, dialogue and cooperation with the EU and hope that the relevant authorities of the tow sides can discuss and explore proper solutions for IPR protection under the new situation of digital age and information economy, so as to push forward economic and industrial development, promote knowledge dissemination and sharing, and make new contributions to the new world economic order and the welfare of the people in both China and the EU."

António Campinos, President of the OHIM said "In today’s globalized economy, a healthy economic and trade relationship is reliant on a healthy IP relationship, hence the importance of the New EU-China IP Cooperation."

Following the outcomes of the EU-China IP Dialogues and related IP Working Group, and extensive consultation with the Chinese IP authorities during the last months of 2013, the first Yearly Action Plan for 2014 was agreed by the EU-China Joint Platform last December. It paves the way to implement more than 20 framework activities of mutual interest covering the whole spectrum of IP rights.

Besides activities to support the EU-China IP Dialogue and IP Working Group, the action plan includes the promotion of both the Chinese and EU IP systems in their respective jurisdictions and the EU-China Customs cooperation on IPR, peer-to-peer exchanges on legal and administrative IP issues - including best practices, assistance in drafting IP law revisions and implementing regulations - and the compilation and publication of databases on IPR issues.

The IP Key team consists of seven dedicated technical experts and assistants on the ground in Beijing, helped by a strong support team in OHIM's headquarters in Alicante, Spain. A significant number of specialised short term experts will assure a successful implementation of the activities.

The launch of the a new action saw the participation of both Chinese and European authorities, as well as EU industry, Chinese and EU rights holders and practitioner associations.