WIPO China: Series of High-Level Roundtables 2021 – Third Session with Media

March 2, 2021

On March 2, 2021, the WIPO Office in China (WOC) held the third session of its series of High-Level Roundtables 2021 in Beijing. Representatives from Xinhua News Agency, CGTN, China Daily, China Science Daily, China Culture Daily, China Market Regulation News, China Intellectual Property News, China Press Publication Radio Film and Television Journal, SINA, XINHUANET.com, China Economic Net., Economic Media Association of China, Media Tea Party, IPR Daily and Zhichanli were present at the Roundtable.

Ms. Liu Hua, Director of the WOC, introduced WIPO's global IP services as well as its resources and platforms to representatives of the media, and shared WOC's work plan 2021. Ms. Liu regards WIPO as golden knowledge assets with five golden keys including, among others, WIPO's policy forum, registration systems, databases, cooperation platforms and the WIPO Academy. She pointed out that China retained its 14th place in the GII 2020 rankings while leading the applications of patents, utility models, trademarks, and industrial designs. WIPO Director General Daren Tang, attributed China's remarkable progress to its policy planning, implementation and evaluation, adherence and determination to deepening reform and opening up, and strong IP ecosystem. WOC would facilitate all Chinese stakeholders to better access and use WIPO global services and products.

Ms. Liu also spoke about the upcoming World IP Day 2021. In 2000, WIPO's member states designated April 26 – the day on which the WIPO Convention came into force in 1970 – as World IP Day. In this year of 2021, we will celebrate "IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market". At a time when the imperative of economic recovery is high, World IP Day 2021 shines a light on the critical role of SMEs in the economy and how they can use IP rights to build stronger, more competitive and resilient businesses. For the celebration, on April 26, Geneva headquarters of WIPO will hold a hub event online, and the external offices will also hold spoke events of their own. To prepare for these events, the WOC is now working on collecting case studies of SMEs and IP, and contacting experts to contribute to a special focus issue of WIPO Magazine.

As for WOC's work plan 2021, Ms. Liu emphasized four priorities, namely, following closely China's accession to the Hague Agreement and ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty, promoting WIPO's services and products such as PCT, Madrid, Hague, Lisbon, WIPO PROOF and ADR, participating in significant IP events and activities in China and engaging all Chinese stakeholders including the media. Ms. Liu emphasized the important role of media in raising public awareness of IP protection and promoting WIPO's global IP services, and encouraged them to attend and cover the World IP Day and other WIPO's activities.

Ms. Liu Yiwei, a reporter of Xinhua News Agency, shared the agency's interest in China's international cooperation in IP protection, especially WIPO's opinions and recommendations on China's innovation, creation and IP development. Besides, Xinhua News Agency is willing to strengthen cooperation with WIPO while closely following the news of WIPO and China in the field of IP.

Ms. Zhu Biyu, Editor-in-Charge of "the Point" on CGTN, pointed out that CGTN is in the forefront of the transformation from traditional TV media to new media, and is willing to take advantage of its new media platform to provide timely reports on WIPO's services, products and activities. CGTN looks forward to delivering more first-hand information to the audience by co-planning live programs with WIPO.

Ms. Zhang Yangfei, a reporter of China Daily, said that China Daily has been closely following the cooperation between China and the international community with a specific interest in IP. Therefore, China Daily is looking forward to working together with WIPO on planning special reports from the perspectives of international cooperation and IP protection. They also hope that experts from WIPO could provide professional advice and analysis on China's IP development.

Ms. Li Chun, Editor-in-Chief of China Market Regulation News (CMRN), pointed out that the CMRN has been in close cooperation with WIPO for years and will continue to introduce WIPO's global IP services and products, especially the Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) and WIPO PROOF, and increase the coverage of WIPO activities.

Mr. Liu Peng, Editor-in-Chief of China Intellectual property News, mentioned that their newspaper was recently re-designed and had a section "IP Online", which was well received by readers. The newspaper hopes to take this as an opportunity to cooperate with WIPO, for instance, to set up a section for WIPO in order to promote its services and activities more detailedly.

Ms. Sui Mingzhao, a reporter of China Press Publication Radio Film and Television Journal, said that the newspaper pays great attention to copyright-related information and activities. They therefore hope to cooperate with WIPO on further publicizing international copyright treaties such as the Marrakesh Treaty and the Beijing Treaty. They are also looking forward to increasing the publicity of WIPO's services and resources so that more people can understand, use and benefit from them.

Ms. Li Chen, Editor-in-Chief of China Science Daily, mentioned that as a newspaper directly under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Science Daily attaches great importance to the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements as well as the developments in IP. The newspaper would like to introduce WIPO to its main audience – the scientific researchers by letting them know about the services and products WIPO provides for them, so as to enhance the influence of WIPO in the field of scientific research on the one hand, and provide better service support for researchers on the other.

Ms. Wang Bin, a reporter of China Culture Daily, pointed out that the demand for IP protection in the cultural and tourism industry is growing, but the awareness of IP is relatively scarce. In response to this problem, she proposed a promotion method named "3-key", which was echoed by many media representatives at the Roundtable: First, promote at key times. For example, to launch a special section on IP knowledge on the World IP Day, which can quickly increase public awareness and attention to IP protection; Second, promote key programs. Extended coverage, professional interpretation and storytelling for the ratification and implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty will be a good example; Third, promote key cases, such as the best cases of intellectual property protection of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). That would be a good idea to interview SMEs or experts of WIPO for professional interpretation of relevant cases.

Ms. Wang Zhiyan, a reporter from News Center of XINHUANET.com expressed the XINHUANET.com's concern about WIPO PROOF and arbitration and mediation services, emphasizing that the output of WIPO's professional content requires a popular interpretation, and that Xinhuanet is willing to provide assistance at the media level and provide media services. Xinhuanet suggests conducting field visits to the best cases of intellectual property protection of SMEs, which is helpful for better promotion and publicity.

Ms. Cheng Qi, Executive Deputy Director, Division of Industry and Economics of China Economic Net, said that China Economic Net is willing to assist WIPO in its promotion to the public at both macro and micro levels, and help the public understand questions such as "what role can IP play in China's economic development?", "what is the role of IP in promoting the development of related industries" and other issues, and hopes to strengthen cooperation with WIPO on specific activities.

Ms. Xiao Yan, Director of Government Relations of SINA, proposed that as a social media platform, SINA welcomes WIPO to open a Weibo account which would help to open a new channel for disseminating the knowledge of intellectual property.

Ms. Li Meng, IPR Daily's Overseas Brand Manager, proposed that as a media focused on intellectual property, IPR Daily is willing to become an advertising and promoting vehicle for WIPO, and suggested that the activities on the World IP Day could be reported in the popular live broadcast format.

Ms. Yi Penghua, Vice President of Zhichanli, a new media platform special for IP, pointed out that in order to change the format of the publicity and promotion of IP from passive to active, it is necessary to fully identify and engage market players. In this regard, Zhichanli is willing to strengthen cooperation with WIPO to help more Chinese enterprises understand the benefits brought by WIPO.

Ms. Zou Ren, Secretary General of China Financial Media Copyright Protection Alliance of the China Economic Media Association, and Ms. Cao Mengqi, Editor of Media Tea Party, expressed their hope to track the highlights of WIPO and analyze best case studies of IP protection from their perspectives, and hoped to become a bridge connecting WIPO and Chinese enterprises.

Ms. Liu thanked the representatives for their speeches and suggestions and said, the WOC will further deepen and broaden its cooperation with the Chinese media and keep focusing on and supporting China's development in IP and international cooperation. Besides, the WOC hopes that the Chinese media will pay more attention to WIPO as well as its new products and services, and work together with the WOC to build a bridge between the Chinese public, IP-related industries and WIPO.