Figure 1: Taiwanese and Chinese delegates pose for a photo at the Cross-Strait Patent Conference

The 9th Cross-Strait Patent Conference was held in Taipei from Dec. 6-7. Although cross-strait relations have taken a turn for the worse since the election of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-wen to Taiwanese president, with Beijing reducing the number of tourists travelling to Taiwan, political tensions did not rear their head at the conference at all. Wang Peng-Yu, general director of the Technology Transfer and Law Center of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) even made a joke about how it has been too long since he has heard Mainland accents after the reduction in tourists. China ranked in the top spot for invention (utility) patent applications in 2015 for the fifth year running, with 1.1 million applications, more than the total applications in the US and Japan taken together, and as patent quality has gradually improved on both sides of the strait, both sides are eager to learn from the other’s experience. Cross-strait talks over a priority document exchange (PDX) agreement are still ongoing and are expected to be followed up by talks over a cross-strait patent prosecution highway (PPH). Despite much speculation before the conference that Chinese officials would give it a miss, many prominent figures from China’s IP world made appearances at the conference, including the deputy commissioner of China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Xu Cong and vice president of the All China Patent Attorneys Association (ACPAA) Liu Bonan. Also present were the heads of IP for several prominent Chinese companies, including the head of Lenovo’s IP department Chen Yuanqing and the head of Beijing IC chip maker NMC’s IP Department Song Qiaoli.

The Cross-Strait Patent Conference has been held annually since 2008, with China and Taiwan taking turns to host it each year. This year 13 of those invited hold posts at SIPO, while six hold posts at the Guangdong Intellectual Property Office, 10 hold posts at the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Office and 10-12 are members of ACPPA. There were a record-breaking 380 attendees at the conference this year, according to TIPO.

The conference lasted a day and a half, with five sessions on the first day and two the following day, with introductory remarks from the secretary general of the Chinese National Federation of Industries Tsai Lien-sheng, deputy director general of the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office Bao Juan, SIPO deputy commissioner Xu Cong and ACPAA vice president Lin Bonan.

Figure 2: From left, Tsai Lien-sheng, Bao Juan, Xu Cong

The content of the sessions are displayed below:

Day 1:
Session 1: Sharing Experience on Helping Cross-Strait Industries Raise Patent Quality and Value

Figure 3: From left, Lin Bonan, Hsieh Hsiao-kuang and Sun Dalong

Moderator: Vice director of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of SIPO’s International Cooperation Department Zhang Jing

Speaker 1: Senior examiner and department head at the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), Hsieh Hsiao-kuang on ‘Sharing how Taiwan has helped industry to raise patent quality and value’

Speaker 2: Head of the Application Quality Promotion Department of the Examination Management Division of the Patent Section at SIPO, Sun Dalong on ‘Sharing China’s patent quality management experience’

Session 2: Sharing Experience on Predicting the Development of SEPs and Corresponding Policy

Moderator: Head of Patent Division III, TIPO, Lin Kuo-tang

Speaker 1: Head of Legal Affairs Division I, SIPO, Qiu Fu’en on ‘Sharing experience on the problems with SEPs in Mainland China and an introduction to corresponding policies’

Speaker 2: Senior examiner, TIPO, Chao Ching-ling on ‘Sharing experience on the development of Taiwan’s telecommunications SEPs and corresponding policies’

Figure 4: From left, Qiu Fu'en, Lin Kuo-Tang and Chao Ching-ling

Session 3: New Developments in Invalidity Examinations and Administrative Litigation Across the Strait

Moderator: Head of the Department of Market Management of the Patent Section, SIPO, Wang Shuanglong

Speaker 1: Division chief judge, Taiwan Intellectual Property Court, Chen Jhong-sing on ‘New developments in invalidity proceedings in Taiwan and discussion of invalidity examinations’

Speaker 2: Head of the Second Division of the Appeals Office for Mechanical Devices, Patent Reexamination Board, SIPO, Shi Jing, on ‘New developments in requests for invalidity examinations and discussion of administrative litigation in China’

Figure 5: From left, Wang Shuanglong, Chen Jhong-sing and Shi Jing

Session 4: Sharing Experience on Strategy and Management of Responses to Global Patent Disputes by Cross-Strait Industry

Moderator: Taiwan Technology Industry Legal Officers Association Chairman, Juan Chi-yin

Speaker 1: Head of Lenovo’s IP department, Chen Yuanqing, on ‘Lenovo’s patent management’

Speaker 2: Head of Mediatek’s IP Unit, Liu Yan-hsien, on ‘Mediatek’s experience in global patent litigation strategy and management’

Figure 6: From left, Chen Yuanqing, Juan Chi-yin and Liu Yan-hsien

Session 5: Future Patent Layout Strategy for the Next Generation of Technology Across the Strait

Moderator: Head of the Second Division of the Patent Affairs Administration Department, SIPO, Hu Junjian.

Speaker 1: Doctoral Researcher at the Science & Technology Policy Research and Information Center, Cheng Kai-jen, on ‘Patent Layout Strategy in View of New and Future Developments in 5G and the Internet of Things’

Speaker 2: The head of NMC’s IP Department, Song Qiaoli, on ‘Intellectual property strategy in the IC industry in China’

Figure 7: From left, Song Qiaoli, Hu Junjian and Cheng Kai-jen

Day 2:
Session 6a: Patent Monetization, Financing and Valuation Across the Strait

Moderator: Taiwan Patent Attorneys Association President, Justin K.S. Wu.

Speaker 1: CEO of Faith Intellectual Assets, Joseph Chang, on ‘The prospects of high-efficiency patent monetization’

Speaker 2: Head of the Second Division of the Patent Affairs Administration Department, SIPO, Hu Junjian, on ‘Patent monetization and the development of innovation’

Figure 8: From left, Joseph Chang, Justin K.S. Wu and Hu Junjian

Session 6b: Patent Monetization, Financing and Valuation Across the Strait

Moderator: Head of the Application Quality Promotion Department of the Examination Management Division of the Patent Section at SIPO, Sun Dalong

Speaker 1: Head of the Department of Market Management of the Patent Section, SIPO, Wang Shuanglong, on ‘The current situation of loans using IP rights as collateral and patent insurance in China’

Speaker 2: General director of the Technology Transfer and Law Center of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute, Wang Peng-yu, on ‘The establishment of mechanisms for patent valuation and financing in Taiwan – exploration of current policy and practice’

Session 6c: Patent Monetization, Financing and Valuation Across the Strait

Moderator: Director of the Intellectual Property Valuation Service Center at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, Sun Chi-li.

Speaker 1: CEO of Faith Intellectual Assets, Joseph Chang, on ‘Exploration of Patent Valuation’

Speaker 2: Chairman of Beijing’s China CPV, Ding Jian, on ‘A comprehensive guide to the valuation of patented technology’

Figure 9: From left, Joseph Chang, Sun Chi-li and Ding Jian

Session 7: Roundtable Discussion on Patent Monetization, Financing and Valuation Across the Strait

Moderator: Associate dean of the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Center of Industry Accelerator and Patent Strategy at National Chiao-Tung University, Hank Huang.

Discussants: Session 6 Speakers

Figure 10: Roundtable featuring, from left, Wang Peng-yu, Joseph Chang, Hank Huang, Hu Junjian and Ding Jian

For a more in-depth look at the discussions during the second day of the conference and a brief summary of the first, you can read ‘Approaches to Patent Monetization across the Taiwan Strait: Transactions vs Patents as Collateral and Patent Insurance’.

Author: Conor Stuart Current Post: Senior Editor, IP Observer Education: MA Taiwanese Literature, National Taiwan University BA Chinese and Spanish, Leeds University, UK Experience: Translator/Editor, Want China Times Editor, Erenlai Magazine

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