On the 16th September BU welcomed Mr Yang Jiuming, Associate Counsellor of Beijing Intellectual Property Office (BJIPO), Ms Li Chunling, Consultant of Industry Promotion Division, BJIPO and Ms Wei Xinya, Deputy Director of Fengtai District Commission of Science and Technology of Beijing Municipality.
The visit, hosted by the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management, marked the beginning of long term collaboration in intellectual property law between the two parties with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. Specific areas of future collaboration include staff exchange, educational training, joint seminars, work placement opportunities for BU students and information sharing.
Dr Sonal Minocha, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement officially welcomed the delegation and presided over the signing of the MoU.
During the visit delegates from BJIPO took part in an Intellectual Property Symposium, led by Professor Maurizio Borghi, Director of CIPPM, and Dr Lingling Wei. They also visited LUSH, the handmade cosmetics company at its headquarters in Poole and met with the Group Intellectual Property Manager, Alex Solomon and Patents Advisor, Stephen Solomon, both BU Law graduates.
Beijing Intellectual Property Office is directly affiliated to the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality and is responsible for the city’s patent affairs and the organisation and coordination of the city’s IPR protection.
The collaboration with BJIPO is timely as the UK and China are collaborating closely in the area of Intellectual Property. The UK-China Intellectual Property Symposium held in Beijing earlier this month provided an opportunity for businesses from both countries to engage directly with government officials in order to better understand the Chinese and UK intellectual property systems.
