Intellectual Property

The China Intellectual Property Management Network (CIPnet) Final Conference was virtually hosted on 24-25 June 2021 by the Intellectual Property School of East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL), China. Presentations were delivered both by the CIPnet project partners and invited guests and structured into the following panel sessions:

The 24^th June, the Final Conference included presentations on: the China Intellectual Property Management Network aims and achievements, structure and activities, and was followed by the conference “Managing IP at Universities. These were followed by presentations on the WIPO Project and Activities in the Field of IP Management, IP KEY and EUCIPAN project’ activities and the China IP SME Helpdesk initiative, and some training on “What Makes It Easier to Obtain a Patent? Professional Quality of Patent Agent”, “Technology Cooperation under the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment”, and the “The Challenge of Patent Law: From Patent Sharing to Technology Sharing”.

IPA4SME offers SMEs that have been awarded the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Seal of Excellence a unique opportunity to acquire IP valorisation and protection by co-financing a range of IP-related services, worth up to EUR 15 000.

These services include free IP pre-diagnostics, where a verified IP expert provides the companies with a customised report on their IP business strategy and advises on how to exploit their assets efficiently and securely. Beneficiaries can also have their IP protection costs reimbursed, particularly IP attorney and European patent application fees.

The China Intellectual Property Management Network (CIPnet) Launch Event was virtually hosted on December 11, 2020 by Southwest University in Chongqing, China. The Launch Event included a presentation of the China Intellectual Property Management Network and its activities, and was followed by the conference “Managing IP at Universities. From IP Awareness Building to Commercialization of Research Results”. Presentations were delivered both by the CIPnet project partners and invited guests and structured into the following panel sessions: IP awareness building at universities; IP management at medical sector; Specifics of commercialization of research results. The event was attended by more than 80 managers, directors, leaders of TTOs, persons involved in commercialization and management of IP at Chinese universities.

The IP4SME call has been re-opened on 27 September 2019, given the overwhelming response to the second cut-off date of the IPA4SME Action, and the initially allocated budget not being sufficient to provide support to all of the services requested by the applicants. For this reason, new Rules for Implementation have been defined in order to increase budget flexibility in the future.

We encourage eligible applicants to apply as soon as possible. Parties that have submitted an application to the previous cut-off dates will have the option to resubmit their previous application. The new cut-off date is Thursday 19 December 2019.

The IPA4SME call that supports and facilitates the use of Intellectual Property by SMEs has been re-opened on 8 July 2019, given the overwhelming response to the first cut-off date of the IPA4SME Action, and the initially allocated budget not being sufficient to provide support to all of the services requested by the applicants. For this reason, new Rules for Implementation are being defined in order to increase budget flexibility in the future.

We encourage eligible applicants to apply as soon as possible. Parties that have submitted an application to the first cut-off date will have the option to resubmit their previous application. The new cut-off date is Thursday 26 September 2019.

The IPA4SME campaign has been launched and is looking for SMEs in need of assistance with their Intellectual Property (IP) valorisation. IPA4SME (“Boosting the use of IP with an action specifically designed for Innovative SMEs”) is a unique business opportunity for SMEs to acquire IP Valorisation and Protection, through a variety related services.

The beneficiaries of these Intellectual Property services are SMEs that have been awarded the Seal of Excellence from the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument, and they can apply for the following:

• Free IP Pre-diagnostics: a customised report by a verified IP Expert on your business strategy related to IP with recommendations on achieving a secure and efficient exploitation of your assets. The service is available to SMEs registered in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
• Financial reimbursement of IP protection costs, specifically eligible costs of qualified IP attorney and European patent application fees, for all EU and COSME countries.

On 1st April, a delegation of the China Trademark Association visited the University of Alicante. The meeting was hosted by the International Project Management Office at the University of Alicante City Center Building.

During the meeting, the International Project Management Office was presented by Dr. Ester Boldrini, OGPI Deputy Director. Ms Noelia López, OGPI Senior Project Manager, presented the Erasmus+ CIPnet project, a project that is implemented in China to promote the modernisation and harmonisation of Intellectual Property Management practices in the higher education system, with a view to enhance university-industry collaborations and contribute to economic and social development.

On March 2019, the II Training of Trainers took place in Zhanjiang (China), organized and hosted by Lingnan Normal University. The Training was attended by more than 60 participants from 14 Chinese Higher Education Instituions.

During this training, entittled "Intellectual Property Policies for Universities. The Aim, the Structure and the Content", the participants discussed IP Policies at the Universities, from the general overview of the role and importance of IP Policies to the universities, to the basic content of IP Policies, to the specific issues to be covered by IP Policies.

OGPI has participated in two international events on intellectual property issues taking place in Guatemala. Firstly, our experts were invited to participate in an international seminar on Marketing and Communication strategies for IP national offices organized by Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, in collaboration with the Patent and Trademark Office in Guatemala and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation. This 3day seminar that took place in the city of Antigua (Guatemala) congregates national IP offices from different Latin American countries with a common aim: to find new ways for engaging with SMEs and raising awareness about the need of protecting their intellectual property assets before starting to commercialize their products and services.