China – International IP Forum 2011
2/08/2011

Two of our partners, Simon Brown and Philip Pla, recently travelled to China at the invitation of Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) to give a presentation to a mostly Chinese audience on IP protection in Africa at the China-International IP Forum held in Beijing. The IP Forum which was held on June 21-22, 2011 was attended by close to 500 delegates. Their presentation covered the different types of IP protection available in Africa, with a focus on South Africa and the ARIPO and OAPI regional IP systems, patent and trade mark registration requirements in South Africa, ARIPO and OAPI and also included an overview of anti-counterfeiting efforts in Africa. MIP, the organizers of the IP Forum, felt it was important that Chinese IP owners understand IP systems in other jurisdictions, know the latest developments and work out strategies for protecting their IP. As Chinese companies expand into other markets, it is important that they understand how best to build their IP portfolios.

China’s relentless growth in high-tech, knowledge intensive industries has lead to the country becoming the world’s fourth largest filer of PCT patent applications (PCT filings in 2010 increased by 56% over 2009) and it is set to become the largest PCT filer within the next few years if the current year-on-year growth trend continues. China’s annual R & D spend is currently the second highest in the world and it is likely to become the leader in this regard in the near future.

The statistics released by the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office in respect of trade mark filings and registrations make for interesting reading. As at April 2011, there were some 8,213,000 pending trade mark applications with total registrations amounting to 5,545,000. In 2010 alone, more than 1,000,000 trade mark applications were filed.

The IP Forum provided a good opportunity to showcase the firm and explain why Africa is becoming increasingly important from an IP protection perspective.