On December 6, the 6th Commissioner Meeting between the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) was held in Brussels, capital city of Belgium. Tian Lipu, Commissioner of the SIPO, and Beno?t Battistelli, President of the EPO, led their delegations to attend the meeting. During the meeting, both sides signed the 2013 Annual Work Plan of Cooperation Between SIPO and EPO.

Tian said the SIPO and EPO have conducted multi-level and comprehensive strategic cooperation over these years, and the successful cooperation has created a sound environment of innovation and intellectual property protection for their patent users and it is of significance for development of Sino-European economic and trade ties. While they deepen existing cooperation, the two offices should also broaden the scope of cooperation, and provide better services for global patent users.

Battistelli said the meeting is of great importance as both sides have reached agreement on cooperation work plan in 2013 and also held practical and effective discussions about a series of intellectual property issues. That will further push forward strategic cooperation between the two offices.

During the talks, both sides reviewed and summed up their cooperation in 2012, and also exchanged views on future cooperation plans. Their topics covered many issues such as automation, patent classification, date exchange, patent examination and international intellectual property affairs.

(Source: SIPO)