This new year 2020, China is launching a centre called the Chinese Overseas Intellectual Property Dispute Response Guidance Centre, which aims to bring together professionals from different countries who are experts in intellectual property to provide guidance on matters relating to this field. The centre has been established by the Chinese Patent and Trademark Office (CNIPA), which is the largest Office of its kind in the world, with a workforce of more than 20,000 employees.
The 75 experts who now form part of this centre were selected by means of a worldwide public merit-based competition. Of the 35 foreign professionals who will be participating in this initiative, 6 are Spanish, and 3 of them are lawyers from ELZABURU: Manuel Desantes, Enrique Armijo Chávarri and Colm Ahern.
The CNIPA’s aim with this initiative is to provide guidance for resolving possible conflicts relating to intellectual property: on the one hand, to safeguard the rights of Chinese entities abroad and, on the other, to gain a better understanding of the intellectual property systems and rules of overseas jurisdictions.
As Manuel Desantes explains in an interview for Confilegal, the biggest problem encountered by Chinese companies seeking to expand internationally is a lack of knowledge of different countries’ legal systems. Therefore, this advice will be essential to dispel doubts and avoid future conflicts. Moreover, thanks to the cooperation of these experts, Chinese entities will be in a better position to defend themselves in the event that any foreign company infringes their intellectual property rights.
Through the creation of new channels for obtaining and distributing information on intellectual property disputes abroad, the centre aims to establish a guidance and coordination mechanism for handling IP disputes involving Chinese companies.
As China is the world’s leading force in intellectual property, it is hoped that this project will serve as an example for other countries with regard to avoiding conflicts and disputes, thereby improving legal certainty and international commercial relations, concludes Desantes.
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