WIPO China: Intangible Assets Are Becoming a Primary Source of Value Creation

The 14th China Intellectual Property Annual Conference, themed “IP in the Digital Age,” was held in Beijing on September 11-12.Mr.Daren Tang, Director General of World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO) ,sent a congratulatory message to the conference. Dr.Shen Changyu, Commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA); Li Zhongjun, Vice Governor of Jiangsu Province; and Grigory Ivliev, President of the Eurasian Patent Office, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Hu Wenhui, Deputy Commissioner of CNIPA, presided over the opening ceremony.

In his congratulatory message, Mr. Daren Tang noted that the industrial economy is transforming, with many countries investing massive amounts of R&D funding in their digital economy and creative economy. He emphasized that the race to shape the future of innovation will be run and won in the area of digital innovation. Digital innovation is increasingly the engine driving all industrial innovation. One-third of all patents filed today relate to digital technologies such as AI, 5/6G, quantum computing, IoT, and cybersecurity.

Mr. Tang observed that we stand at the threshold of an IP-driven economy where intangible assets are becoming the primary source of value creation. This shift presents an unprecedented opportunity to ensure that IP serves as a catalyst for jobs, entrepreneurship and prosperity across all nations.

Dr. Shen Changyu, Commissioner of the China Intellectual Property Administration, said the world has entered a digital era where everything is interconnected, and computing is ubiquitous. The development of the digital economy relies on the support of key core technologies, and the digital age is driving the transformation of IP systems.

The two-day conference has attracted more than 8,000 participants, including those from government departments, domestic and foreign enterprises and IP service providers.

On the morning of September 12, the WIPO Office in China, together with the Intellectual Property Publishing House, co-hosted a sub-forum under the theme “IP Enables Private Sector Entities to Global Markets.” The event attracted wide attention from various stakeholders. Mr. Bai Guangqing, Senior Counsellor of the WIPO Office in China, and Mr. Benoît Apercé, Communications and Information Manager, Madrid Information and Promotion Division, Brands and Design Sector, WIPO, shared insights on “The Latest Developments in International Intellectual Property Protection,” “IP Enables Private Sector Entities to Global Markets: The WIPO Madrid System,” and “The Hague System’s Assistance to the Global Protection of China’s Designs.”