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The Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union
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China , a nation of more than 1.3bn people, has the world's largest population. Its rapidly growing private sector has established it as a major player in the global economy. For more than a decade OHIM has been cooperating with the Chinese authorities in the effort to modernise their Intellectual Property systems, which are seen as a crucial element in maintaining the country's economic progress.
In a special interview with Li Jianchang, Director General , China Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Alicante News asks how they have been tackling the challenge of modernising trade marks in one of the world's fastest growing economies.
What kind of problems have you seen due to the growth in interest in Chinese trade marks?
As you know, the economy in China has developed very fast and the implementation of the trade mark strategy has raised people's awareness of trade marks. As a result, we see a lot of applications. In fact in 2009 the number of applications was expected to reach more than 800,000.
Because of this sharp increase in applications, and because we relatively lack enough examiners we have seen a lot of backlog. By the end of 2000 we saw that the backlog of applications had reached 1.82m and the timescale for examination was 36 months.
How did you set out to tackle this challenge?
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce set out a three-year plan and five-year plan. The first target was to clear the backlog within three years and by two years later to have reached the international standard for trade mark applications.
There are a number of reasons why these challenges were set. The first main reason is that the Chinese Government attaches a lot of importance to Intellectual Property. Last year the State Council published the outline of the national IP strategy which sets out our target. That is, we have to create, utilise and protect trade marks.
Secondly, SAIC also came up with a lot of incentives to encourage our employees to work more efficiently. We have also increased our examination units and have recruited more people. Thirdly, all the employees, from our headquarters to our offices at different levels, have supported and contributed to the realisation of this target. Fourthly, of course, we have gained a lot of support from the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Trade Mark Association, OHIM and other trade mark authorities from other counties. The fifth reason, last but not least, is the commitment of all our employees within China 's trade mark office. That is why we can see the result is really outstanding.
What kind of progress have you made?
As I said, SAIC set out the objective of clearing our backlog within three years. In 2008, our target was to complete the examination of 700,000 applications, but actually we exceeded this target by another 50,000. That was the first time since the year 2000 that we carried out more examinations than the applications we received in the same year.
On 15 September 2009 , we examined the one millionth application for that year – actually, we exceeded that target by 6,000 applications. By the end of November we had already examined 1.3m applications, realising our annual target one month ahead of schedule.
For 2010, our target is to complete 1.4m applications examination and we will have to clear the entire backlog by the end of the year. Last year's achievement has formed a very solid foundation for us to realise this target and also this has given us enough confidence. It shows where the direction would be for the future.
Have you seen any changes in demand for trade marks?
The acceleration of examinations has also encouraged more applications. By the end of November last year we saw that applications had reached 750,000, which was very close to a record high. And we believe we have also done our part to promote the development of the economy. We will still have to continue our hard work in order to clear the backlog but I would like to take this opportunity to say that we will definitely be able to clear all the backlog in 2010 and the timescale for examination will come down to less than 12 months.
OHIM and the Chinese authorities have been cooperating on various projects since 1996, and last year OHIM signed a Memorandum of Understanding on future cooperation with China . The China Trade Mark Office has also joined the Trade Mark Trilateral Meeting (between OHIM, the Japanese and US authorities) as an observer for the past three years. What are your priorities for future cooperation?
We believe the Memorandum of Understanding will serve as another solid foundation for our future cooperation. And in the annual Trade Mark Trilateral meeting there was the suggestion that China will become a permanent observer. I personally think this has paved another way for our future work and will provide another channel for cooperation.
Also, we have suggested that the trilateral “club” hold another international trade mark seminar together with China , in China , in 2010. I have expressed a warm welcome on behalf of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce because this definitely shows that our future cooperation will be even more comprehensive, deeper and wider.
With our mutual efforts we believe we will see even greater outcomes in our cooperation on trade marks, and we will contribute more to economic development not only in China , but also in the EU.