From June 22-23, 2021, the 14th IP5 Heads of Offices Meeting was held via video conference, hosted by the Japan Patent Office (JPO) in rotation. The CNIPA Commissioner Shen Changyu led a delegation to attend the meeting.

The JPO Commissioner Kasutani Toshihide presided over the meeting. The European Patent Office (EPO) President António Campinos, Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) Commissioner Kim Yongrae and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Drew Hirschfeld also led delegations to participate in the meeting. Lisa Jorgensen, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), attended the meeting as an observer.

The meeting adopted the 2020 Joint Statement of the IP5 Offices. The joint statement emphasized that the IP plays an essential role in stimulating innovation to help overcome COVID-19 and boost economic recovery. The heads of the IP5 offices acknowledged the necessity of taking a long-term perspective on IPRs and the integral role that IPRs play in addressing social challenges.

The IP5 offices exchanged insights into their respective initiatives to help address social challenges through the use of IPRs. Shen Changyu introduced China's experience in using IPRs to promote economic and social development in China. Taking "two golden leaves" in Sangzhi County, Hunan Province as an example, he introduced to the participants the successful model of exploring the use of IPRs to support targeted poverty alleviation, and demonstrated the unique role played by IPRs in helping poverty reduction.

The heads of the IP5 offices also exchanged views on various areas of future IP5 cooperation in the post COVID-19 era and on related feedback from industries. Shen Changyu pointed out that since the digital transformation has accelerated around the world due to the pandemic, users have an urgent need for the IP offices to apply digital technology to provide efficient services for applicants and intensify the protection of new emerging technologies (NET). Therefore, the IP5 offices should continue to strengthen cooperation, make full use of NET to enhance exchanges with industry and improve user convenience, and step up research on NET IP protection, so as to drive these technologies to better empower industrial transformation and upgrading, and continue to benefit global users.

The heads of the IP5 offices adopted the results of the meeting, including the new topics of the Patent Harmonization Experts Panel (PHEP), roadmap on cooperation in the fields of NET and AI, the indicators of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), the timeliness management of the patent application cycle, and the future work plan.

At the meeting between heads of the offices and industry associations on June 22, all parties exchanged their insights on "Future IP5 cooperation with an eye on the post COVID-19 era". The Patent Protection Association of China organized 18 Chinese companies to take part in the meeting. Representatives from Baidu, Gree and other firms spoke at the meeting on behalf of the Chinese industries and expressed their concerns.

The CNIPA Deputy Commissioner Gan Shaoning also attended the aforementioned meetings.(Translated from CNIPA Website Chinese Version)