Group photo: Mr. Shen Changyu (middle), Commissioner of the State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO), Mr. Luiz Otávio Pimentel (2nd left), President of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Brazil (INPI), Mr. Grigory Ivliev(2nd right), Director General of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of the Russian Federation (ROSPATENT), Mr. Om Prakash Gupta (1st left), Controller General of the Office of Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of India (CGPDTM), and Mr. Rory Voller (1st right), Commissioner of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa (CIPC)

The 10th Meeting of BRICS Heads of Intellectual Property Offices (BRICS HIPO) was held in Chengdu on March 26th. SIPO Commissioner Shen Changyu chaired the meeting, and signed the "Joint Statement on Strengthening Intellectual Property Cooperation" on behalf of SIPO with the heads of the other four BRICS IP offices. This was a specific measure to strengthen IP cooperation following the "BRICS Leaders Xiamen Declaration."

Mr. Luiz Otávio Pimentel, President of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Brazil (INPI), Mr. Grigory Ivliev, Director General of the Federal Service For Intellectual Property of the Russian Federation (ROSPATENT), Mr. Om Prakash Gupta (1st left), Controller General of the Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of India (CGPDTM), and Mr. Rory Voller (1st right), Commissioner of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa (CIPC), attended and addressed the meeting.

WIPO Deputy Director General Wang Binying attended the meeting's opening ceremony as a special guest.

Shen Changyu pointed out in his speech that since the first BRICS HIPO in 2013, the BRICS IP cooperation has achieved fruitful results in training of intellectual property office staff, information services on IP, IP/patent processes and procedures, and IP strategy for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), among others. The IP cooperation has become an important part of BRICS cooperation and plays a growing influence in international IP circle. He said that the 10th BRICS HIPO coincided with the beginning of the second decade of the BRICS cooperation and the second five years of the BRICS IP cooperation. He hoped that through sincere, open, and pragmatic discussion, all the five offices will work together to move their cooperation into a new developmental stage, achieve more cooperative results that are favorable to technical innovation and economic and social development, better promote BRICS's IP development, encourage the five offices to provide better service to IP users and the public of the BRICS countries, increase the voice and representation of the BRICS countries in the global IP system, promote the development of international IP rules in a direction that is inclusive, balanced, and effective.

SIPO Deputy Commissioner He Zhimin reviewed BRICS's IP cooperation outcomes on behalf of SIPO as the rotating chair of the BRICS IP authorities. The past has indicted that the BRICS IP cooperation has been growing from scratch to specific results and expanding its scope, with an increasing status and role worldwide. In the future, the BRICS IP offices will provide further impetus to economic and social development in the BRICS countries.

At the meeting, the head of the BRICS IP offices signed the "Joint Statement on Strengthening Intellectual Property Cooperation." This was the first official joint statement by the BRICS IP offices to identify their cooperative goals and fields. The statement pointed out that the BRICS IP offices will aim at promoting BRICS's IP development, providing better service to IP users and the public of the BRICS countries, and increasing the voice and representation of the BRICS countries in the global IP system. They will carry out further exchanges and cooperation on seven aspects – laws and regulations, capacity building, enhancing public IP awareness, personnel training, IP information, coordination at international IP fora, and the building of BRICS cooperation mechanism. There was consensus that signing this statement serves the common interests of the BRICS countries and is conducive to creating an environment that promotes innovation and sustainable development. It will also promote IP's development in emerging economies, thus generating a significant and far-reaching impact on the future cooperative development among the BRICS countries.

During the meeting, the five offices discussed and adopted the first guidance document to regulate the internal operating mechanism within them – “Operating Guidance Framework for the BRICS IP Cooperation.” SIPO released the Brochure for Enhancing Public IP Awareness in Chinese Society as the leading institution of the program "IP Strategy and Enhancing Public Awareness." Officials from the five offices also discussed the latest development of all programs within the framework of "BRICS Intellectual Property Offices Cooperation Roadmap" and the next steps. All the five offices exchanged ideas on some hot-spot issues in international intellectual property.

This was the first time for SIPO to host a high-level BRICS intellectual property conference. (Translated from SIPO Website Chinese Version)