A Joint Cause

PRESIDENT Xi Jinping once said to protectintellectual property （IP） is to protect innovation.

Recently， the Tsinghua University Schoolof Law and the World Intellectual Property Organization（WIPO） jointly launched a master’s programon IP and innovation policy， welcoming the firstbatch of students. IP has become a tool to promoteglobal innovation and economic development andChina has become a pacesetter in the application ofindustrial intellectual property rights， WIPO directorgeneral Daren Tang said.

A complete IP talent education system has takenshape in China， and now it will become more internationalized，thanks to the new master’s program.“China is advancing its innovation-driven developmentwhile ratcheting up efforts to protect IP rights.A large group of high-caliber talents is needed andthis program， open to students from across theglobe， with its courses taught in English， aims tocultivate high-end intellectual property talents withinternational perspectives but rooted in the Chinesecontext，” Zhou Guangquan， dean of Tsinghua UniversitySchool of Law， told China Today .

Progress in IP Protection

By the end of 2023， China’s invention patentsnumbered nearly 5 million， while registered trade-marks crossed 46 million. According to a white paper LEADINGreleased by the China National Intellectual PropertyAdministration titled “IP Protection in China 2023，”in 2023， China’s social satisfaction with IP protectionscored 82.04， a new high.

“China has joined the first echelon in globalIP protection. Our invention patents and registeredtrademarks volumes both rank first in theworld，” Professor Cui Guobin， who is also directorof the Center for Intellectual Property at TsinghuaUniversity Law School， told China Today . “In manytechnological innovation fields， like wind power， solarpower， electric vehicles， ultra-high voltage powertransmission and transformation， and artificial intelligence（AI）， China has made great breakthroughs.”

Many foreigners are curious about China’s IPprotection system and want to know how the governmentis making policies to encourage innovationand advance the country’s science and technologyprogress， Cui added. He pointed out that though thelegal system for IP protection in some Westerndevelopedcountries is already very mature， in terms ofthe capability of the government to advance innovation，China leads the world. “China’s studies in the IPfield are setting the pace globally，” Cui remarked.

IP protection legislation started in China in the1980s. By the end of 2022， there were 27 IP tribunalsand four IP courts， as well as 70 national IP protectioncenters. In 2023， Chinese courts received over540，000 IP cases.

In Cui’s view， the rapid formation and improvementof China’s IP protection system can be ascribedto two factors. “The foreign investment influx sinceChina’s reform and opening-up created the need forIP protection in order to maintain order in marketcompetition， and so legislation was advanced. Later，as China rapidly rose to the status of the world’s factory，domestic innovative enterprises mushroomed.Their strong need for IP protection improved thelegal system.” Cui also stressed the important roleof the government in raising public IP protectionawareness.

Cause celebre IP cases and strict law enforcementhave helped promote the public’s IP protectionawareness. In 2023， courts across the country awardedpunitive damages in 319 cases， an increase of 117percent year on year. The amount of compensationawarded was RMB 1.16 billion， a 3.5 times increaseyear on year.

The substantial damages awarded for IP infringementhave begun to show their deterrent effect. OnJune 14， 2024， the IP Court of the Supreme People’sCourt made the final ruling in a high-stake legal case.Automaker Geely had sued electric vehicle manufacturerWM Motor for infringing its trade secrets，demanding RMB 2.1 billion in compensation. Thecourt， considering the large-scale poaching of technicaltalents and resources which led to the infringement，ordered WM Motor to pay Geely approximatelyRMB 640 million. It was the highest compensationawarded in an IP infringement lawsuit in China.

Role of the State

Innovation policy is a focus of the newly launchedprogram， as its name “intellectual property and innovationpolicy” indicates. “We hope our studentswill know not only the IP legal system well but theinnovation system too. National policies and govern-ment measures play an important role in runningthe whole system， for example， the promotion ofadvanced technologies，” Cui told China Today .

China still lags behind the United States in somesectors of fundamental science research. “If weestablish a system that can swiftly spread technicalknowhow and quicken its commercial application，it can also sharpen a country’s competitive edge. Wehope our students will know the whole process andrelated systems，” Cui said.

In some cases， the legal system for IP protectionand the market are not enough to inspire innovation.Then the government can take the baton byformulating industrial policies to encourage enterprisesto develop a certain technology by means ofmechanisms like tax reduction or subsidies. “Chinahas done very well in this aspect. Many Westerncountries are keen to know our system. I think ourprogram will provide international students with agood chance to learn how China’s industrial policieswork，” Cui said.

When the market success anticipation is low orthe market scale is small， it’s hard for many smalland medium-sized enterprises to attract investment.In such a scenario， Cui thinks specific technologiescan be quickly commercialized if the governmentprovides office space， introduces preferential policies，or even plans industrial clusters， gathering enterprisesfrom related industrial chains in the samearea.

Some Chinese cities have aready successfullyimplemented this model. For example， Hefei， capitalof Anhui Province in east China， hosts a new energyvehicle industrial cluster and has seen an integratedcircuit industrial chain take shape through governmentinvestment and industrial policies.

“We set great store on students’ mastery of theinnovation system. For example， we have a coursecalled innovation economics and policies. It’s aninterdisciplinary course， with the focus on botheconomic knowledge like how society organizes innovativeactivities and the country’s industrial policiesto promote innovation. Our students will get amacro perspective on how the whole system runs interms of innovation， instead of being confined to themicro-level legal or economic operation，” Cui said.

The program also features some frontier courses related to subjects like data and AI governance. “Datainvolves issues like privacy and national security. Inthis course， we’ll discuss AI governance and invitethe team of lawyers of Microsoft AI to join us to startthe course，” Cui said.

Nurturing Tomorrow’s Rule Makers

The program also aims to cultivate the globalcompetence of students to enable them to participatein the formulation of international rules in thefuture. “We aim to help students gain insights intothe core issues of IP while making them sensitive tothe social reality，” Cui said.

The WIPO invites renowned experts to join theteam designing the courses and provides the budgetfor guest lectures. It is also offering scholarshipsand internships to students. To ensure the courseis international， the teachers will be selected fromall over the world. This year， the faculty includesWilliam W. Fisher， a renownedprofessor from Harvard LawSchool.

“We hope to build an openinternational teaching platform，pooling the world’s toplevelIP scholars. Apart fromsupporting our program， scholarscan also carry out academicexchanges through theplatform，” Hong Yan， secretarygeneralof the program， toldChina Today .

The Tsinghua UniversitySchool of Law has been activein international exchanges inIP. Together with Oxford University and the NationalUniversity of Singapore， the law school has establishedan annual forum held in rotation in eachcountry. It also works with the University of California，Berkeley to organize seminars on IP protection.In Europe， Max Planck Institutes have a cooperationwith Tsinghua.

“We hope to cultivate high-caliber IP talentswith international perspective， humanistic spiritand interdisciplinary background to promote globalprogress in IP protection and innovation policyformation，” Zhou Guangquan told China Today .