Die Asien Patent Examiner Group (APEG) des Europäischen Patentamts (www.epo.org) veranstaltete im Sommer 2016 eine Expert Lecture zur Frage, welche Effekte mittelständische Unternehmen von der Patentstrategie Chinas erwarten müssen und welche Gegenmaßnahmen die hiesigen Betriebe selbst anwenden können.
“There is still a severe lack of awareness among CTOs and CEOs about the powerfullness of Chinese IP strategy …” – Prof. Dr. Alexander J. Wurzer
China, a country with a population of 1.4 billion and a size of 9.6 million square meters, 26 times the size of Germany, has shown a strong will to catch up in terms of technology and IP in the last years. Not only EPO examiners are noticing this development by the surge in Chinese patent applications.
Prof. Wurzer, director of the Institute for Intellectual Property Management at the Steinbeis University in Berlin and Programme Director for the Master of IP Law and Management at CEIPI, gave a detailed insight based on a study among German SMEs which was conducted a few years ago. He explained that three parallel waves can be observed in China. While most of Europe’s CTOs and CEOs and political administrations still perceive China only as a source of counterfeit products, reality has changed: China has been very successful in attracting foreign investment and hugely investing in foreign key technologies. It has become a technological superpower.
The presentation has come at the right time. It attracted more than 110 EPO staff in Room PH 8661. The presenter, introduced by Willy Minnoye, vice-president DG Operations, explained that China is increasingly successful as a global technology super-power, a fact that has not yet reached the minds of European companies and administrations. European companies report back positively from this surge of investments in R&D, but it is also clear that these investments are made to increase the strength of China as a technological competitor. Chinese companies are going to use prohibitive rights in a systematic and consistent manner for their own interests in international markets.
During 45 minutes the audience took the opportunity to ask a variety of excellent questions to which the presenter tried to give his best answers. He emphasized that Chinese IP rights are not just empty of any technological content, but are nowadays strategically filed and use by Chinese companies. These effects can be observed with other countries, but due to the size of the country, its resources, its level of industrialisation and its global economic background, there is are several multiplying factors.
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