Ms. Junyi Zhu, one of our European Patent Attorneys, was invited by the Chinese Patent Office in Hunan and Henan province in China to hold a lecture regarding IP rights in Germany and in Europe. More than 100 companies attended her lectures.
Once again our attorney Miss Junyi Zhu was invited to China to hold lectures about Intellectual Property in Germany and in Europe. In her brief report, Junyi tells us about her trip to Hunan and Henan:
What did I do?
I was invited by the Chinese Patent Office in Hunan and Henan province in China to hold a lecture regarding IP rights in Germany and in Europe, especially regarding German fairs for the local companies. More than 100 companies in each province respectively attended the lecture. I was able to establish contact with most of the companies electronically. In addition, I was introduced to some local patent law firms by the Chinese Patent Office. I also went to Guangzhou and paid visit to several patent law firms as well as a local company to extend our service and my avice to them.
What was the content of my lecture?
In my lecture, I talked about why it is necessary to obtain IP rights in Germany as well as in Europe in the context of German fairs, how to react when the Chinese companies face infringement accusation in German fairs, and most importantly, what measures can be taken before German fairs in order to prevent the Chinese companies from being involved in any infringement accusation and what measures can be taken after German fairs when the confiscated products are not infringement products. In addition, I introduced the European Unified Patent system to the audience and how to take advantage of the pros and avoid cons of the systems.
How was my lecture received?
The lectures, both in Changsha, Hunan and Zhengzhou, Henan, were very well received. There were lots of questions after the presentation. The companies were very active in establishing contact with us. Several companies and patent law firms showed interest immediately after the lecture to file applications in Germany as well as in European through us. I am staying in contact with the companies for discussion about possible new applications and answer questions whenever one comes up.
What did I learn from the trip?
The Chinese government is providing the companies with tremendous financial support for filing IP protection rights domestically and abroad in order to promote the protection awareness and avoid infringement issues of the Chinese companies. Companies in second- and third-tier are right in the development phase where they are bringing their products abroad and are encountering problems in the IP field. Therefore, it is exactly the right time to go to these areas and meet with the local companies.
However, most Chinese companies are still relying heavily on the governmental financial support in filing applications abroad and they will only attach great importance to obtaining IP rights after they have encountered serious problems abroad. Therefore, there is still a long way to go and I deem it necessary to visit such areas more often in the future and bring more concrete legal examples in the lecture in order to promote a deep consciousness for IP protection among Chinese companies.
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