National IP Publicity Week 2020 Kicks Off on Cloud

 

On 20 April 2020, the National IP Publicity Week 2020 was kicked off, running until 26 April in coincidence with the 20th anniversary of World Intellectual Property Day.

 

The opening ceremony of the IP week, in its 12th edition, was conducted online as a preventive against the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. The event was co-organised by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the State Administration for Market Regulation in conjunction with 20 ministries and commissions. During the opening ceremony, speeches were delivered by CNIPA commissioner Mr. Shen Changyu as director of the IP week organisation committee, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) director general Mr. Francis Gurry, and representatives of the participating ministries and commissions.

 

The theme of this year's IP week is "IP and National Health". As noted by Mr. Shen Changyu, IP has close connection with the health of the people, both physically and mentally, as embodied in, among others, the inventions of new drugs and medical devices, geographical indications for protection for new plant species, and trademarks and copyright for fostering the development of sports and cultural businesses.

 

The IP week featured about 50 activities, including CNIPA and National Copyright Administration's joint briefing on the country's IP development status; Supreme People's Court's release of its yearly report on adjudication of IP cases and exemplary cases in 2019; the cloud open day of CNIPA; online lectures on corporate patent strategies hosted by China Association for Science and Technology; and Ministry of Justice's IP law-related educational programmes.