On Dec 7, the Business of Intellectual Property Asia (BIP Asia) Forum 2017, jointly organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and Hong Kong Design Centre, started its two-day run (7-8 December) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Entitled “IP & Innovation: Propelling Change, Growth and Connectivity”, the BIP Asia Forum featured more than 80 heavyweight speakers and attracted over 2,500 participants.
He Hua, Deputy Commissioner, State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China; Carrie Lam, Chief Executive, HKSAR and Margaret Fong, HKTDC Executive Director attended and addressed the opening ceremony.
He Hua said in his speech, that the report released by the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed that we should quicken our steps to build an innovative country, advocate the culture of innovation and strengthen the creation, protection and application of IP. The current background with innovation as the first motivation of leading development highlights the function of IP. For a country, IP is the surging motivation of innovation and development and the sustainable source of growing fortunes; for an enterprise, IP is the core element of strategic resources and competition to survive and develop.
He also indicated that 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China. Since the return, China Mainland and Hong Kong have kept deepening their cooperation in the IP field and have achieved great results. He expected that Hong Kong will play an important role in the construction of an IP Power and make efforts to help China realize the rejuvenation in the future.
Margaret Fong, HKTDC Executive Director said, “IP is one of the engines driving Asia’s remarkable economic growth and development in recent years and is expected to continue in the future.” “Hong Kong has emerged as Asia’s hub for IP, thanks to our world-class business environment, robust legal and IP arbitration systems, and our extensive network with the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world. Now in its seventh year, BIP Asia has grown into a major annual event promoting global IP trade.”
As the speakers said, BIP ASIA does not only bear all the hopes of IPers, but also provide one of the most important platforms to promote the communication for the IP industry in China and the world.
The Forum covers 3 Plenary Sessions and features a series of Concurrent Breakout Sessions, which brought the attendees professional and innovative opinions and ideas from different aspects.
Evolving IP policy in the innovation era
The highlights of the first day of the BIP Asia Forum were the two Plenary Sessions. Speakers at Plenary Session I, with the theme “Evolving IP Policy in the Innovation Era”, included Wang Binying, Deputy Director General, World Intellectual Property Organization; Molan Karim Tarigan, Chair, ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation; Takayuki Sumita, Secretary-General, Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, Cabinet Office of Japan; and Prof Habip Asan, President, Turkish Patent and Trademark Office. They spoke on the latest developments in IP policies and ways in which IP protection empowers innovation hubs.
After the Plenary Session I, China IP reporter had an opportunity to interview Prof Habip Asan, who said that China and Turkey are both eastern countries carrying the heritages of ancient civilizations and major developing representatives of emerging economies. “Turkey welcomes the "Belt and Road" initiative, and considers this important project as the modern Silk Road that connects Asia and Europe. SIPO and TURKPATENT took first steps in order to initiate the cooperation between our offices in 2001 and signed a cooperation agreement in 2008. Stakeholders in both countries are already benefiting from the services provided for obtaining and protection of their intangibles assets.” He believed that with joint efforts, China and Turkey will develop cooperation in more fields and achieve progress together based on a principal of mutual benefit.
Crafting a comprehensive IP strategy for the new world order
Under the theme of “Crafting a Comprehensive IP Strategy for the New World Order”, Plenary Session II featured Gustav Brismark, Chief Intellectual Property Officer, Ericsson AB, and Toshimoto Mitomo, Corporate Executive, Intellectual Property and Mid-to- Long-Term Business Development, Sony Corporation. As leaders of multinational corporations, the two speakers shared how they have stayed abreast of the increasingly complex IP landscape and effectively integrated IP into their global business strategy.
The revolution of artificial intelligence (AI)
Plenary Session III, titled “Global Tech Summit - The Revolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI)”, was held on Dec 8, with world-renowned experts and Asian industry pioneers sharing their insights on the next wave of AI revolution. Speakers included Eric Chang, Senior Director, Technology Strategy and Communications, Microsoft Research Asia; Simon See, Director and Chief Solution Architect, NVIDIA AI Technology Center; Herbert Chia, Honorary Chairman, B4B Limited; Rick Zou, Executive Vice-President, National Eastern Tech-Transfer Center; Barry Chan, Partner, Financial Services Sector, IBM Global Business Services, IBM China/Hong Kong Ltd; Bruce Ren, Chief Strategy Officer, UBTECH Robotics Corp.; Aldrin Yim, CEO, Codex Genetics; and Chris Au Young, General Manager, Smart Airport, Airport Authority Hong Kong.
New strategic partnership for Asia IP Exchange
As Asia’s largest international IP trading platform, Asia IP Exchange listed more than 27,000 tradable IP items including patents, copyrights, trademarks and designs for various industries, ranging from biotechnology medicine electronics and engineering to film and publishing. The HKTDC signed memoranda of understanding with National Eastern Tech-Transfer Center and International Federation of Inventors' Associations to forge strategic partnerships to promote IP information exchange and cooperation in Asia.
In addition, a series of Concurrent Breakout Sessions covered five areas: IP of Business Practices, IP Legal Tips, Industry-specific IP, Quick Guide to IP Basics and IP Market Insights. The event also featured such new topics as food and film adaptation.
90 exhibitors gathering at BIP ASIA
The BIP Asia exhibition was held alongside the main forum to provide more business opportunities for forum participants. It featured more than 90 exhibitors, including the World Intellectual Property Organization, major international technology companies, leading local and overseas research and development (R&D) centres , universities and IP services providers. The exhibition provided one-stop on-site advisory services, ranging from knowledge transfer and commercialization to the application, licensing and trading of IP such as patents, trademarks and copyrights, as well as relevant laws.
BIP Asia Forum is an event of the Innovation & IP Week. Three other HKTDC events were held concurrently: the SmartBiz Expo, the Hong Kong International Franchising Show and DesignInspire. Covering design , branding , technology, entrepreneurship, and IP management, the four events together provided a one-stop platform for SMEs to source the best business solutions.
On Dec 8, the 7th Business of IP Asia Forum formally concluded with more than 2,500 attendees from 35 countries and regions. We believe that with the help of BIP ASIA Forum, IPers from different countries will reach more agreements and make efforts to help the IP industry in China and even the world to step into a new era. The 8th edition will be on 6-7th December 2018, we hope to see you there!
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