Meeting on IP Protection Framework in Shanghai FTZ

Dan Prud’homme of the IP Key Team met with Deputy Director General Hong Yongqing of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration (SIPA) to discuss potential cooperation between IP Key and SIPA in the coming year on an event to discuss the workings of the IP framework within the newly opened Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

The FTZ was launched on September 29th 2013, and is of the first of its kind in mainland China. Covering an area of almost 29 square kilometers, the zone will allow easier investment access by foreign and Chinese entities in a variety of sectors. The Shanghai authorities have announced a novel structure for enforcing IP rights in the FTZ, with a unified administrative organ handling patent and copyright disputes and a branch of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) handling trademark disputes. Discussions are ongoing about exactly how all aspects of IP enforcement will work inside the zone.

For further information, please refer to SIPA's homepage