Settling down in Beijing, Opening a New Chapter of Cooperation

On July 10, 2014, along the picturesque banks of Shichahai in Xicheng District, a Chinese-style ceremony with international participation took place, during which several guests jointly pressed the ball-shaped button to mark the inauguration of the fifth external office of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which landed in Beijing.

During the ceremony, the then Director General of WIPO Francis Gurry said that China had experienced rapid IP development with the most trademark registrations in the world since it joined WIPO over 30 years ago. He believed the WIPO Office in China would enable WIPO to offer better services to China and other Asian countries, help China deepen international communication, and engage China in closer multilateral cooperation on IP.

Former Director General of WIPO Francis Gurry delivers a speech at the inauguration of the WIPO Office in China. (Photo: Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office)

Close Cooperation to Tap the Gold Mine of Knowledge

Since the office was established eight years ago, it has become a vital bond between Beijing and WIPO. As Director of the WIPO Office in China Ms. Liu Hua put it, the office provided China with the key to tapping the gold mine of knowledge.

In 2015, the Beijing Municipal Government and WIPO signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation (MOU), drawing a blueprint for practical cooperation in building innovative cities, applying and protecting IP, cultivating talent, advancing internationalization, etc. In 2019, the two parties expanded cooperation by signing a supplementary agreement to the MOU, facilitating the growth of Beijing as a role model of IP development. On April 28, 2020, thanks to all parties' efforts, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances entered into force. It's the first international IP treaty signed in China and named after Beijing since the founding of the PRC.

In February 2022, WIPO Director General Daren Tang attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games on invitation. During his stay in Beijing, China officially deposited its accession documents for entering the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs and the Marrakesh Treaty. The two documents took effect on May 5, 2022. In this context, Tang said, "China joining these two treaties is an important development for the global IP ecosystem."

WIPO Director General Daren Tang attends the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. (Photo: Zhai Yanping)

The China National Intellectual Property Administration deposits China's instrument of accession to the 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement. (Photo: WIPO Office in China)

The Hague System provides streamlined and efficient international registration of industrial designs for innovators in 94 countries. After China's accession to the system, Chinese enterprises and designers can secure design protection internationally in multiple countries or regions by using a single language and currency through just one international application and one-time payment. In this way, Chinese enterprises could explore the international market more easily at a lower cost. As Tang pointed out, "China's accession to the Hague System means that the design community in China will find it easier to protect and bring their designs out of China, and overseas designers will find it easier to move their designs into one of the world's largest and most dynamic markets."

Throughout the years, the WIPO Office in China and Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office have organized a wide range of activities to promote the Hague System, providing one-on-one services for each enterprise to protect its designs and expand overseas market through the Hague System. An officer in charge of IP from Xiaomi said, "It's under the guidance of the WIPO Office in China and Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office that we filed our first Hague System application. As a user of the Hague System, Xiaomi ranked fifth worldwide in 2020 and eighth in 2021. At the end of 2021, Xiaomi's IP portfolio contained some 3,000 designs registered in overseas countries. More than one third of them are protected through the Hague System."

Attentive Services Making the WIPO Office Feel Like Home

It is worth noting that the WIPO Office in China is located in a distinctive siheyuan in Beijing. When Mr. Gurry walked into the office for the first time, he was so amazed at the spacious courtyard, intricately decorated porch, and quaint workplace that he exclaimed, "How incredible Chinese architecture is!" Since then, the siheyuan in Beijing has become WIPO's landmark office, which always impresses foreign visitors.

Former Director General of WIPO Francis Gurry visits the WIPO Office in China and marvels at the beauty of Chinese architecture. (Photo: Beijing Daily)

Quaint Buildings of the Office (Photo: Lv Guoliang)

Behind this warm "home" of WIPO is the hard work of all government departments in Beijing. In recent years, under the guidance of central departments like the China National Intellectual Property Administration, Beijing has set up a special mechanism to facilitate the operation of international organizations in the city. At the beginning of 2020 with the onslaught of COVID-19, the municipal government timely responded to the office's urgent need by coordinating personal protection supplies, such as face masks, alcohol-based solutions, and disinfectants. The government also appointed COVID Liaison Officers to update the office on the latest COVID prevention and control measures of the city and help its staff access vaccines and nucleic acid tests. The staff said that they felt safe working and living in Beijing despite the pandemic.

The Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office coordinates personal protection supplies like face masks and disinfectants for the WIPO Office in China. (Photo: Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office)

Looking Forward, Building Beijing into a Role Model of IP Development

In the past few years, Beijing secured prominent progress in the Global Innovation Index (GII). In 2021, Beijing ranked third in the list of top Science and Technology (S&T) clusters. As Liu Hua, Director of the WIPO Office in China, elaborated on the GII 2021 report, she pointed out that the ranking fully spoke to the creativity of Beijing. She also said that the office would strengthen coordination and cooperation with the government to offer more tailored, timely and quality IP services.

Liu Hua, Director of the WIPO Office in China, interprets the GII 2021 at the 2021 Zhongguancun Forum. (Photo: 2021 ZGC Forum)

Profile of the World Intellectual Property Organization

WIPO is an intergovernmental organization established in 1967 pursuant to the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization. As one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations, WIPO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. With a history dating back to 1883, it aims to promote intellectual property protection across the world through cooperation among countries. Currently, it has 193 member states. China joined WIPO in 1980, and the WIPO Office in China, one of the seven external offices of WIPO across the world, opened in Beijing in July 2014. (The other six offices are in Brazil, Japan, Singapore, Russia, Nigeria and Algeria).

(Source: Beijing Foreign Affairs Office, Beijing Municipal Intellectual Property Office, WIPO Office in China, Beijing Daily, China News Service)