Beijing Patent Attorneys Association Convenes Founding Ceremony and General Assembly

On 8 January 2013, the newly established Beijing Patent Attorneys Association (BPAA) convened its founding ceremony in Beijing. The ceremony was attended by leaders of competent authorities including All-China Patent Agents Association secretary general Mr. Li Jianrong, Beijing Intellectual Property Office (BIPO) director Mr. Wang Hong and deputy director Mr. Pan Xinsheng, Beijing Intellectual Property Protection Association secretary general Mr. Ni Hao, as well as 81 representatives from major patent firms in Beijing municipality.

Concurrently held was the inaugural general assembly of the association, where its council and supervisory committee were created. Mr. Cui Xiaoguang was elected the first president of BPAA. China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. (CPA) Beijing office deputy director Mr. Wu Yuhe also sits on the board of the association as standing board member.

According to BPAA's newly elected chairman Mr. Cui, the association aims at, under BIPO's guidance, developing and promoting self-regulation, service standard and professional ethics, as well as strengthening industry creditability assessment system and building publicly accessible credit archives for the patent agency industry in the municipality.

By end of November 2012, Beijing housed about 250 patent agencies, accounting for one fourth of the total number of patent agencies nationwide. The number of patent agencies in Beijing has been increasing at a rate faster than other provinces and municipalities, with an annual addition of over 20 agencies over the past four years in a row. Regarding patent attorneys, practicing attorneys in the municipality amounted to 2,868 in year 2011, representing 40% of the total number of practicing patent attorneys in China.