Commissioner, State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), Mr Tian Li Pu
Commissioner, Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration (SIPA) Mr Lu Guo Qiang. Distinguished Guests. Ladies and Gentlemen. A very good morning.
1. It is my pleasure to be here today. On behalf of my delegation from Singapore, I would like to thank our Chinese hosts, the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China, and the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, for organising this event and for their hospitality.
2. This is the 4th Conference in the series. Starting from 2006, we had organised 3 previous conferences: 2 in Singapore and 1 in Beijing. To date, almost 500 participants have attended these Conferences. To reach out to more people, the organisers have decided to hold this year’s conference in Shanghai. I am happy to meet all of you today.
3. Since establishing diplomatic ties in 1990, China and Singapore’s bilateral relationship has grown from strength to strength. A key anchor of our bilateral relationship is our robust economic ties, including our strong trade and investment links.
4. A strong intellectual property regime is needed for countries to promote industrialisation and innovation. In addition, intellectual property is an important component in promoting trade and investments between countries. Both countries have recognised the importance of cooperation in the field of intellectual property. In 2004, the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Intellectual Property Cooperation.
5. However, each country’s intellectual property regime is different. So how can people and companies effectively implement their intellectual property strategies across different countries?
6. This question will be the main theme for today’s conference. In particular, a key focus is on how Chinese companies can navigate the Singapore intellectual property system and design appropriate intellectual property strategies to advance their business interests?
7. I am happy to share that 16 lawyers and IP practitioners from Singapore have come to Shanghai today to share their experience and insights with our friends from China. I am sure their insights will be valuable to all of us.
8. Ladies and gentlemen, despite the current challenging global conditions, China’s economy continues to grow at record levels. According to news reports last week, China has overtaken Japan to to become the world’s second-largest economy based on nominal GDP rates.
9. Beyond GDP growth, China is also embarking on a restructuring of its economy and pursuing new growth strategies. For example, China is developing new industries like environmental technology, biotechnology, infocommunications, and material sciences, just to name a few.
10. The commonality between these new industries is that they are knowledge-based industries. Output is no longer simply measured in terms of units of production, but more in terms of the number of ideas and the depth of innovation. To protect such innovation, a strong intellectual property regime is important.
11. As China continues its economic evolution, its intellectual property landscape has also grown in tandem. Consider China’s patent system. After China implemented its Patent Law in 1985, it took 15 years to accumulate the first million patent applications. By comparison, SIPO almost received the same amount of patent applications (976,686) in 2009 alone.
12. China’s remarkable progress within this period has allowed it to surpass most other countries. Today, China is among the top 5 countries in the world in terms of the number of patent applications filed.
13. Another key trend is the globalisation of Chinese companies. As these companies venture into overseas markets, they are also adapting to international intellectual property regimes along the way. In 2009, China filed over 7,900 international patent applications through the Patent Cooperation Treaty under the World Intellectual Property Organization. This is more than triple its applications in 2005.
14. Leading this international charge is a troop of Chinese companies with a strong suite of intellectual property rights and well known brands. For example, Huawei Technologies has been ranked by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as the 2nd highest international patent filing company in the world in 2009, with over 1,800 patents filed.
15. Singapore, with our strong intellectual property laws, business-friendly policies and extensive connectivity to the world, has been a natural destination for Chinese companies looking to internationalise.
16. Today, there are over 3,000 Chinese companies in Singapore including well-known ones like Huawei, Cosco, and Hai’er. Many of these companies are tapping Singapore’s extensive linkages to the Asia-Pacific market to set up their regional marketing and trading operations.
17. We are also seeing Chinese high-tech start-ups set up their operations in Singapore to undertake research and development in sectors such as Information Technology, solar energy, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
18. Singapore started to modernise its intellectual property regime about 15 years ago. I have had the privilege of helping to drive this and have moved about 11 pieces of legislation in parliament during this time. In this way, we have progressively finetuned and adapted our intellectual property laws in key areas such as copyrights, patents and trademarks to suit modern market conditions.
19. Singapore’s IP Academy and the WIPO’s office located in Singapore have also provided thought leadership in key intellectual property areas.
20. In addition, we have worked with WIPO to establish the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre in Singapore earlier this year. This is the first Centre established in the Asia Pacific region, and it will offer dispute resolution services for international commercial disputes. Such alternative dispute resolution will be especially relevant to complex, cross-border intellectual property-related disputes.
21. As Chinese businesses such as yours venture into new countries, one consideration you have to make is how to tailor your existing intellectual property strategies to adapt to each country’s regime. A suitable and strong intellectual property strategy will help your companies protect its unique products and services, and even create new business opportunities.
22. That is why the organisers of today’s conference have added a business matching cum helpdesk session for participants. This half-day session, which will be held tomorrow, will allow you to meet with the speakers to understand more about how to do business in Singapore, and also to explore opportunities for partnership.
23. In closing, I like to extend my appreciation to Commissioner Tian for making the trip from Beijing for this Conference. I also thank Director-General Lu and the SIPO and SIPA officials for their kind hospitality in hosting this conference.
24. I am confident that this Conference will facilitate an active exchange of views and ideas. All of us can benefit from learning from each others’ expertise and experiences.
25. With that, I wish all of you a productive set of meetings and discussions ahead. Thank you.
新加坡共和国律政部高级政务部长何炳基副教授
第四届中新知识产权会议开幕词
2010年8月25日
中国国家知识产权局局长田力普先生，
上海市知识产权局局长吕国强 先生，
尊敬的嘉宾，女士们、先生们，
大家早上好！
很荣幸出席今天的会议。在此，我代表新加坡代表团，向本次会议的主办方，中国国家知识产权局和上海市知识产权局，表示诚挚的谢意！感谢你们的辛勤组织和热情的接待！
中新联合举办知识产权会议，已有四届。自2006年以来，我们曾两度在新加坡、一度在北京合作办会。至今，参会人数约有500名。为了让更多的人参与，今年的组办单位特地将会址选在上海。今天，我很高兴能在这里和大家见面。
自1990年建交以来，中新双边关系不断强化，其中的一项重要因素，就是我们双方强健的经济合作联系。
一个国家要促进工业化和发明创造，必须具备强而有力的知识产权体制。除此以外，知识产权也是推进国与国之间贸易与 投资的重要组成部分。中国与新加坡都意识到这一点，所以在2004年，中国国家知识产权局与新加坡知识产权局签订了知识产权合作框架备忘录。
然而，由于各国的知识产权体制存在着差别，商家和企业应该如何在国与国之间有效地实施知识产权战略呢？
这一问题恰恰是我们今天会议的主要议题。我们将特别探讨中国企业如何了解新加坡的知识产权体制，制定相应的知产战略，从而开发自己的商业利益。
本代表团有16位来自新加坡的律师和知产从业人员。他们将以小组讨论的方式，与中国朋友们分享自己的经验与心得。我相信他们的见解会让我们获益匪浅。
请让我继续用英语发表演讲。
女士们、先生们，尽管目前全球形势充满挑战，中国的经济持续增长，不断创下新的记录。根据上星期的新闻报道，中国已经超过日本，成为世界第二大名义国内生产总值最高的国家。
除了国内生产总值的增长，中国也在积极进行经济改革，制定新的发展战略。例如，中国正在积极开发环境科技、生物科技、信息通讯、以及材料科学等诸多产业。
这些新兴产业的共同特点都是以知识为基础。如今产出不再仅仅以生产单位，而是以创意的数量和革新的深度来衡量。要保护创造与革新，强有力的知识产权体制至关重要。
随着经济的推进，中国的知识产权体制逐渐强劲。以中国的专利系统为例，自1985年中国制定专利法以来，15年积累了首一百万项专利申请。然而，仅2009年一年，中国国家知识产权局收到的专利申请便达到几乎相等的数字（97万6686项）。
中国在本时期的骄人成就超越了大多数其他国家。如今，中国已跻身全世界专利申请数量的前五位。
另一个重要的发展趋势是中国企业的国际化。在拓展海外市场的过程中，这些企业在逐渐适应国际知识产权体制。2009年， 中国通过世界知识产权组织下的《专利合作协议》提交了7900项国际专利申请，是2005年申请数目的三倍多。
一批拥有强项知识产权和知名品牌的企业是国际专利申请的排头兵。华为技术公司已提交1800多项专利申请，被世界知识产权组织(WIPO)列为2009年世界第二大专利申请公司。
新加坡以完备的知识产权法规 ，有利于商业发展的政策和与世界各地的广泛联系，自然成为中国企业寻求国际化的场所。
迄今，已有包括著名的华为、中远和海尔公司在内的3000多家中国企业前来新加坡发展。许多企业正在通过新加坡与亚太市场四通八达的联系，来建立他们的营销与贸易营运系统。
我们也目睹了中国的高科技起步公司在新加坡开展信息技术、太阳能、生物科技和制药等领域的研发工作。
新加坡在大约15年前开始知识产权体制的现代化。我有幸参与推动这项活动，在此期间在国会提出了11项立法 。通过这种方式，我们持续调整和修改了版权、专利和商标这些重要知产领域的法律，使其适应现代的市场形势。
新加坡知识产权学院(IP Academy)和世界知识产权组织驻新加坡办事处，也在重要的知产领域起了领导作用。
此外，我们今年初还与世界知识产权组织合作，在新加坡成立了世界知识产权组织仲裁与调解中心。这是在亚太地区成立的第一个此类中心，为国际商业纠纷提供解决服务。该中心尤其适合解决复杂的跨国知识产权纠纷。
如果您的企业要进军其他国家，必须考虑修改现有的知产战略以适应每一个国家的体制。适当而强劲的知产战略将有助于保护您的独特产品与服务，甚至创造新的商机。
正因如此，今天会议的组织者们特地为与会者增加了业务配对与咨询的日程。该日程设在明天，为期半天，届时您将与发言人会面，进一步了解如何在新加坡开展业务，并且探讨合作机会。
最后，我要向田局长表示衷心的感谢，感谢他专程从北京前来参加会议。同时我也要感谢吕国强先生，以及中国国家知识产权局和上海知识产权局的工作人员，感谢他们的热情款待和辛勤工作。
我深信，此次会议将促使我们积极交流，从彼此的专业知识与经验中获益。
我衷心希望会议与讨论取得丰硕的成果。谢谢大家！