His first visit as CEO aimed to reinforce the strength of
UK-China collaboration on IP, and highlight the important
role it plays in supporting innovation and creativity in
both countries.
The visit, between 5th and 10th November, took the
delegation to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing. Tim
witnessed a number of landmark agreements and new
initiatives.
Tim delivered a keynote speech at the China International
Industry Fair (CIIF) Innovation and Emerging Industries
Development Forum in Shanghai – a major trade event with
more than 2,500 exhibitors and 160,000 visitors.
He announced the launch of new practical tools for UK and
Chinese researchers and companies to ensure mutually
beneficial IP protection. These included a
bilingual Non-Disclosure
Agreement specifically designed to support
clarity on IP arrangements in cross-border collaborative
research and technology projects.
Tim Moss said: “Cross-border licensing of technology
creates new revenue flows, and spreads cutting-edge
technology to markets and research communities around the
world.
“The IP system must support international projects.
Researchers and companies involved in cross-border
collaboration may negotiate IP arrangements that suit
their projects. This includes ownership of IP generated
by joint research. Commercialisation of jointly developed
technology should be transparent, this helps all
contributors to benefit.”
He added:
“The new template Non-Disclosure Agreement will help
British and Chinese partners develop joint research bids
or a technology licensing deal. Drafted in English and
Chinese, they allow equal protection to all parties,
whether from the UK or China and provides legal certainty
so partners can engage with confidence.”
The Non-Disclosure
Agreement is part of a set of practical
resources and advice we provide to British and Chinese
researchers to help them effectively manage IP in
cross-border projects. The visit also saw the renewal of
the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) and
the Alibaba Group
Memorandum of Understanding on IP Protection in
Hangzhou.
It builds upon the partnership set up 3 years ago to
improve IP protection on Alibaba e-commerce platforms and
features improvements to this co-operation.
These included further development of small and
medium-sized enterprises (SME) friendly
notice and takedown procedures, greater use of big data
and AI technology to target infringements and
strengthening offline enforcement activities.
The visit included meetings with key government officials
and businesses. These focused on making sure that IP is
positioned appropriately in the post-Brexit UK-China
trade relationship. There was strong support for
improving UK business outcomes in China, including
through our IP attaché-led support for UK companies.
Representatives from the UK’s Chartered Institute of
Patent Attorneys (CIPA)
and the Chartered Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys
(CITMA)
also formed part of the delegation. They accompanied Tim
to support the promotion of UK exports of IP legal
services and to help UK patent and trade mark attorneys
win business from Chinese companies filing patents and
trade marks in Europe.
The UK trade delegation was led by Trade Minister
and Local
Government Minister , Department for
Communities and Local Government (DCLG),
and featured more than 100 companies and local government
officials.
The UK was Country-of-Honour at CIFF this
year and several activities took place in the UK
pavilion, which featured highlights from the global IP
campaign “GREAT for Imagination
