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Swiss-Chinese bilateral dialogue on intellectual property

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Seventh meeting of the Chinese-Swiss working group on intellectual property

The seventh meeting of the Chinese-Swiss working group on intellectual property took place on 25 March 2014 in Beijing.

The Chinese delegation was headed for the fifth time by Deputy Director YANG Guohua from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). In addition to various representatives of MOFCOM, the delegation also included representatives from the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC), the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the State Forestry Administration (SFA), the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and the Office of the National Leading Group on the Fight against IPR Infringement and Counterfeiting (IPR Leading Group).  This group includes representatives from 29 authorities, whose aim is to coordinate the efforts of China in the field of law enforcement. The Swiss delegation was again headed by the IPI's deputy director general, Felix Addor.

Ahead of the official meeting of the working group, the Swiss delegation participated in bilateral visits at the SIPO, the SAIC as well as the IPR Leading Group. This allowed for an in-depth discussion directly with the relevant authorities on patent and trade mark legal issues as well as law enforcement on the internet prior to the working group's meeting.  

As in previous years, an industry round table was held on 26 March following the working group's meeting in MOFCOM. This presented representatives of the Swiss economy the opportunity to raise questions concerning trade marks and plant protection products, law enforcement as well as issues concerning the regulatory field directly with Chinese government representatives. This event has now been carried out for the fifth time due to an explicit interest by Swiss companies.

A separate industry round table using the same format was also held for the first time on 20 March with representatives from the SIPO, whereby issues concerning patents and designs were discussed.