The 21st Meeting of China-France Patent Mixed Working Group was convened in Beijing on June 14, 2007. Present at the meeting were TIAN Lipu, Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China, Benoit BATTISTELLI, Director General of the National Institute for Industrial Property (NIIP) of France. Both parties held discussions on cooperation between the two offices and intellectual property issues of mutual interest.

 

TIAN Lipu first extended warm welcome to Benoit BATTISTELLI for his visit and briefed the visiting delegation on the SIPO, the third revision of the Patent Law and IP protection in China. TIAN Lipu noted that the SIPO accepted 172,000 applications for the three types of patents during the first four months of 2007, among which 1264 applications originated from France. From 1985 up to June of this year, France filed 24,542 patent applications in China, among which 21,000 were for invention patents. In 2006 alone, France filed 3614 patent applications, ranking the 6th among all foreign applications. This shows that the French government and businesses have attached great importance to the Chinese market by actively applying for patents in China. This will play a key role in promoting cooperation between the two agencies and the economic development of the two countries.

 

TIAN Lipu spoke at the meeting

 

Benoit BATTISTELLI spoke at the meeting

 

In the aspect of IP protection in China, TIAN Lipu remarked that the Chinese government at all levels have always attached great importance to IP protection and have taken various measures. Many French companies with investment in China also pay much attention to this issue. The Chinese government will strive to create a good IP protection environment for domestic companies and foreign investors alike.

 

Benoit BATTISTELLI gave an account of the NIIP to the Chinese side. He said that the number of invention patent applications that the NIIP accepted in 2006 increased by 3.3 per cent, ranking the second amongst all countries that filed applications to Europe Patent Office, next only to Germany. In 2006, France ranked the fourth across the world in PCT applications, with over 83,000 design patents, an increase of 5.8 per cent over the same period of the previous year. Forty per cent of all patent applications were e-filed in 2006. In addition, France revised relevant IP laws and regulations, cutting 25 per cent of patent fees to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises and research institutes to apply for patents.

 

With respect to cooperation, both offices showed great interest in promoting personnel exchanges and cooperation between local IP administrations in an effort to build their cooperation for mutually-benefit and win-win result.

 

It is reported that the 22nd Meeting of China-France Patent Mixed Working Group will be held in France in 2008.

2007-06-22

2007-06-22