On November 16, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) Fu Shuangjian met with the visiting African IP organization delegation led by General Director of African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) Gift Sibanda.
ARIPO (English Agency) is an English-speaking regional alliance of IPR protection established by African states. It now has 13 member states. In recent years, SAIC and ARIPO conducted frequent exchanges. In March this year when Director of SAIC Zhou Bohua took a visit to Africa, he signed a Memorandum of Understanding between SAIC and ARIPO with General Director Gift Sibanda.
Fu ShuangJian welcomed the delegation's visit and said that as China has become Africa's largest trading partner, China-Africa cooperation to strengthen intellectual property protection is increasingly important. ARIPO is an important regional organization devoted to IPR construction and development. SAIC pays much attention to the exchange and cooperation with ARIPO. The MoU signed in March opened a new chapter in trademark cooperation between the two sides. At present, the first cooperation project – training for officials from French-speaking African countries – has launched, which will further promote a comprehensive understanding of Chinese intellectual property system. SAIC is looking forward to more pragmatic and effective cooperation with ARIPO next year.
Fu said building a more balanced and effective international intellectual property system is one focus of the intellectual property world. When WIPO Director General Francis Gurry took a visit to SAIC, he especially attached attention to the China-Africa cooperation. In the current context of world multipolarization and economic globalization, China and Africa should strengthen the cooperation in the field of intellectual property rights to enhance the representation and voice of developing countries in international intellectual property matters.
Fu introduced China's trademark protection. He said the Chinese government has always attached great importance to IPR protection. From January to November this year, SAIC had accepted a total of 1,155,000 applications for trademark registration, up 34.5% over the same period of 2010. As of the end of October this year, China's trademark applications had accumulated to 9.45 million and trademark registrations had accumulated to 6,478,000 with 5,355,000 valid registrations. China's trademark registration applications, examinations and valid registrations all rank first in the world. Fu said SAIC would like to share the experience of ARIPO.
Sibanda said that ARIPO attaches great importance to the cooperation with China. The signing of MoU is a milestone. China has already cooperated with the French Agency of ARIPO. The first project was very successful. He hoped that ARIPO and SAIC will carry out pragmatic and efficient cooperation next year.
Sibanda expressed that in recent years more and more Chinese enterprises make investment in Africa. Intellectual property is a key factor of investment. ARIPO will help Chinese enterprises make use of the platform to promote the economic and trade relations between both sides.
Director of African Bureau under WIPO Herman Ntchatcho attended the meeting and expressed his concern on the geographical indication protection of SAIC.
Officials from Department of International Cooperation, Trademark Office, Trademark Appeal Board under SAIC and trademark societies attended the meeting.
(Source:IPR in China)
