WIPO Attended 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services and Held International Symposium on the Promotion of Madrid International Trademark System (Series 1)

September 9, 2021

The 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) was kicked off on September 2, 2021 and the Global Trade in Services Summit was held. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended and delivered a video speech at the Opening Plenary of the Summit.

President Xi pointed out that trade in services is a key component of international trade and an important area of economic and trade cooperation between countries. It has a big role to play in fostering a new development paradigm. China will open up at a higher level, further improve rules for the services sector, by supporting Beijing and other localities in piloting the alignment of domestic rules with the ones in high-standard international free trade agreements and in building demonstration zones of digital trade. China will continue to support the innovation-driven development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by deepening the reform of the New Third Board (National Equities Exchange and Quotations) and setting up a Beijing Stock Exchange as the primary platform serving innovation-oriented SMEs. Ms. Liu Hua, Director of WIPO Office in China (WOC), as invited, attended the Opening Plenary of 2021 CIFTIS and the Global Trade in Services Summit.

Trademark Protection Helps Chinese Enterprises "Go Global" --- International Symposium on the Promotion of Madrid International Trademark System

On September 3, 2021, the Trademark Protection Helps Chinese Enterprises "Go Global" --- International Symposium on the Promotion of Madrid International Trademark System, part of the 2021 CIFTIS, was organized jointly by WOC and the Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office at China National Conference Center. Ms. Liu Hua, Director of WOC, Mr. Liu Jian, Deputy Director General of International Cooperation Department, National Intellectual Property Administration of China (CNIPA) and Mr. Zhang Jinsong, Deputy Secretary General, Beijing Municipal Government (BMG) delivered opening remarks. Mr. Yang Dongqi, Director General, Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office (BMIPO) presided over the ceremony.

Brands are everywhere. In her speech, Ms. Liu Hua mentioned that brand is the core competitiveness of an enterprise, and choosing a brand is to choose the quality, reputation, and image of the product.

The internationalization of business brands is an irresistible trend, and the number and strength of international brands reflect the comprehensive strengths of a country to a certain extent. As shown by the ranking of 2021 World's 500 Most Valuable Brands, brands from countries including the United States, China, Japan and Germany dominate the list with a proportion of 87%, and their values account for 92% of the total amount.

The number of Chinese brands on the list has been increased on an annual basis, indicating that some Chinese brands have grown into international brands during the process of "going global" of Chinese enterprises. Haier has developed into a leader in the global household appliance market and a world leading ecological brand in the IoT era; Huawei has grown into a global smartphone giant; TikTok, as the most downloaded APP in the world, has been one of the most successful products in the Internet era. It is thus fair to say that Haier, Huawei and TikTok epitomize the global rise of Chinese brands.

Ms. Liu Hua noted that, any successful company would take the international protection of trademarks as the first step to go global. The Madrid International Trademark System administered by WIPO provides an important solution for Chinese enterprises to register and protect trademarks overseas. The Madrid system has the advantages of "time-efficient, cost-effective, and easy-to-manage". Applicants can file a single application in one language, and pay one set of fees to apply for trademark and obtain protection in more than 120 countries.

Ms. Liu Hua mentioned that in 2020, China ranked third in the world in terms of Madrid applications, among which SMEs performed brightly. Nanjing Chenyu Culture Media Co., Ltd, ranked 28th in the world with 40 filings; Nanjing Huamai Information Industry Group submitted 31 applications, ranking 42nd in the world. WIPO recognized and appreciated the performance of these SMEs, and promoted and publicized them globally as excellent cases of IP empowering SMEs to innovate and develop.

Ms.Liu Hua introduced the vision and four pillars for building an inclusive, balanced, vibrant and forward-looking global IP ecosystem, outlined by Mr. Daren Tang, Director General of WIPO, namely, sticking to a people-centered IP story, enhancing partnership with all parties, providing high-quality services and performing as a policy tool for growth and sustainable development. WOC, as the extension of WIPO in China, will build a bridge of friendship between the headquarter and Chinese stakeholders, continuously and consistently strengthen the strategic cooperation and coordination with the host country, secure the effective use of WIPO's global IP services and products and seize the opportunities of China's development. WOC will continue to prioritize Northern, Eastern and Southern China with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as the cores, provide more targeted, more timely and higher-quality IP services to users, facilitate the development of SMEs and empower their dreams.

Mr. Liu Jian noted that intellectual property, as a standard rule of international trade and an important institutional guarantee for the protection of innovation, has played an important supporting role in promoting the development of the digital economy and serving economic and trade exchanges. In light of the current situation where the global pandemic is still severe and opportunities co-exist with challenges, the symposium has shared practical experience of the Madrid System, exchanged the latest developments of trademark internationalization and discussed how to promote trademark in a global economy which is of great significance. Mr. Zhang Jinsong said, based on its strategic positioning, Beijing, in accordance with the guidelines of "four centers" construction and high-quality development requirements, focuses on the construction of an international science and technology innovation center, "two zones", an international consumer center city and an international benchmark city of digital economy. Beijing will continue to improve its capacity and governance building on IP, and optimize its business environment. In the future, Beijing will further implement trademark and brand strategies, strengthen brand cultivation, enhance protection capacity, and make greater efforts to promote the city's brands development and the realization of a new and leap-forward development of IP work.

During the Symposium, Ms. Zhang Junqin, Senior Counsellor of Information and Promotion Department of Brands and Designs Sector, WIPO, Ms. Du Yanxia, Partner of International Trademark Department, JIJIA Intellectual Property Agent Co., Ltd, Mr. Shen Chong, Head of Trademark of Legal Office, Xiaomi Technology Co., Ltd, Mr. Seth Hays, Chief Representative of (USA) Asia-Pacific Office, International Trademark Association (INTA), Ms. Liu Qin, Director of Trademark Division, GuangZhou HUAJIN United Patent Trademark Agent Co., Ltd and Mr. Zhu Mengda, General Manager of Strategic Development Department, NanJing HUAMAI Technology Co., Ltd introduced the latest development of Madrid system, practical skills of submitting Madrid applications, the value and paths of brand building, and the importance of Madrid trademark applications to enterprises' overseas business development and strategic layout. Speakers also discussed and made suggestions on topics such as how to carry out trademark layout and how to efficiently use the electronic tools of Madrid system for enterprises.

As an important event under the framework of the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), the Symposium attracted more than 200 participants online and offline, provided valuable experience and effective guidance for Chinese users to protect trademarks through the Madrid System, and helped Chinese enterprises legally protect their rights and interests in the overseas markets.

About the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS)

The China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is an event co-sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of China and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. It has been successfully held for seven years so far. It was upgraded to a national level exhibition in 2020. It is the largest and most comprehensive high-level international first-class exhibition in the field of global service trade and has been ranked as one of the three major exhibition platforms for China's opening to the outside world.

Themed “Towards Digital Future and Service Driven Development”, 2021 CIFTIS focuses on digital economy development and fully demonstrates the new global trends of digitalization. The Fair has set up an exclusive digital service zone for the first time to showcase the latest achievements in service areas such as unmanned driving, smart transportation, building digitalization, and new audio-visual, and to enhance the level of marketization and professionalism.

The 2021 CIFTIS held 5 summit forums, 193 forum meetings and promotion and negotiation activities as well as 8 side events, attracting more than 10,000 enterprises from 153 countries and regions to attend.