The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, (MOFCOM), and DG Trade of the European Commission, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the EU-China IP Dialogue Mechanism with a high-level event in Brussels on the 29th of June.

Commissioner Malmström opened up the flagship event by announcing the signing of a new memorandum of understanding that reinforced cooperation on IP and upgraded the dialogue to Vice Minister of Commerce and Commission Deputy Director General.

The event highlighted the importance of the EU-China relation on IP matters with speakers from the EPO, OHIM, SAIC and SIPO as well as representatives from EU and Chinese industry. A second event will be held in Beijing at the end of September in the margins of the High Level Economic Dialogue.

Background

On 30 October 2003, during the 6th EU-China Summit held in Beijing, EU and China agreed to set up a structured EU-China Dialogue on intellectual property (IP) coordinated by DG Trade and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). On 14 July 2005, both sides agreed to complement the IP Dialogue with an EU-China IP Working Group. The EU-China IP Dialogue Mechanism is based on these two components.

During the past decade, the IP Dialogue Mechanism has proved to be a very useful and reliable platform for both sides to have extensive discussions and cooperation on a wide range of IP-related issues with a view to fostering a better understanding of the two sides IPR systems and their development and to reducing potential trade frictions. The technical cooperation programs between EU and China have played a significant supporting role to these bilateral exchanges and served as a good example in the field of international IP cooperation.

During the 16th EU-China Summit from 20 to 21 November 2013, both sides jointly adopted the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation and agreed to handle bilateral trade friction through dialogue and consultation as a preferred option and to reinforce the IP Dialogue Mechanism so as to strengthen cooperation for combating counterfeiting and piracy as well as make full use of the new technical cooperation programme in that regard.

Source: IP Key