IP in China and Japan

WEDNESDAY 16 MARCH 2005 (This page is for the historical record)
Intellectual Property Seminar

Sponsored by Bristows
Intellectual Property Lawyers, 3 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3AA

Location: Chatham House, 10 St James Square, London, SW1Y 4LE
Nearest tube: Green Park, Piccadilly Circus
Time: 17:30-19:30 (followed by reception)
SPEAKERS:

Philip Westmacott, Partner and Head of IP, Bristows
In November 2004, Philip participated in a high level IP mission to China. He will speak on China
Ian Harvey, Chairman, UK Intellectual Property Institute
Former Chief Executive of BTG. Will also speak on China.
Ian Judge, Consultant, Bristows
Former partner and Head of IP (1992-2002) at Bristows. A visitor to Japan on IP matters since 1984. Will speak on Japan.

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SYNOPSIS OF TALKS:

Philip Westmacott, Partner and Head of IP, Bristows

Philip Westmacott will give his impressions of the state of IP law in China, the practicalities of obtaining and enforcing IP rights, the attitudes of indigenous and foreign industry to IP in China and the ways in which Western companies can influence and derive value from the Chinese IP system.

Ian Harvey, Chairman, UK Intellectual Property Institute, Retired CEO - BTG plc

Ian Harvey will address from a business perspective the role that IP is now playing in China and put this into a historical perspective with the evolution of IP protection and enforcement in Japan and, more recently, in Taiwan and Korea.

Today, technology and its associated IP is a key driver of economic growth in the developed world - IP underpins probably over half of private sector GDP in the US or UK. China’s stage of development means that IP is now increasingly relevant to it. China has been one of the more inventive and scientifically creative countries for over two thousand years and it is now likely to be an increasingly important centre of global IP – for example, the number of Chinese university patent applications is now almost equal to that of the US and six times that of the UK.

China today has good patent and other IP laws and the government has made substantial progress to get them implemented well and uniformly throughout China. The residual problems lie in enforcement. Most of the actions of the Chinese government over the last twenty years appear to show intent of having a good and enforceable IP system.

Although there is still progress to be made, both foreign and Chinese companies are increasingly able to enforce their IP effectively in China at a reasonable cost. Chinese companies are recognising the importance that national and global IP will play in their development. On the other hand, many UK companies are lagging behind their competitors in recognising that IP in China should be fundamental to their strategies. For example, UK companies file fewer patents in China than the Netherlands, France or Switzerland and one quarter those of Germany or Korea.

Japan has also recently increased its focus on the role of IP in its economy both through IP legal capacity and the creation and use of IP from the universities.

In today’s world, IP in China should be centre stage for any UK company that aspires to be a global player or, indeed survive, in an era that may well be dominated by IP from China.

Ian Judge, Consultant, Bristows

Ian Judge will talk on Japan. Following a summary of the policy initiatives in the field of IP that Japan has initiated consequent upon the February 2002 statement by Prime Minister Koizumi that Japan must become an ‘IP Nation’, and some of the principal issues of IP policy that Japan is addressing at the moment, Ian Judge will consider three particular aspects of IP developments in Japan - (1) developments in the Japanese Patent Office (which is responsible for granting all registered IP rights in Japan), (2) developments in the Japanese courts responsible for the enforcement of IP rights in Japan, and (3) developments in the law in Japan relating to the matter of compensation to employee inventors.

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BIOGRAPHIES OF THE SPEAKERS:

PHILIP WESTMACOTT
Philip Westmacott graduated from Cambridge University in 1975 with a degree in Engineering and Law. He qualified as a solicitor in 1978. He became a partner in Bristows in 1985. He is Head of the Intellectual Property practice at Bristows. He is Chairman of the UK's Intellectual Property Lawyers Association.

Philip Westmacott participated in a high level IP mission to China during late 2004. Prior to that time he had acted for VIA Technologies of Taiwan in major lawsuits in the English and other courts involving IP rights and competition law issues.
Further details of Philip Westmacott's career can be found under 'People' at www.bristows.com.

IAN HARVEY
Ian Harvey was Chief Executive Officer of BTG plc from 1985 until his retirement in late 2004. During that time he oversaw the privatisation of BTG, its public flotation in 1995, a demerger of part of its business and three Rights Issues amounting to about £170 million to raise additional capital from its shareholders.

Following a degree in Mechanical Sciences from Cambridge University, his early career was as an engineer with Vickers and Laporte Industries in the civil, aerospace and chemical industries. After an MBA from Harvard Business School, he was with the World Bank in a variety of roles, including agro-industrial projects in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and preparing a new industrial strategy for the Portuguese Government. Subsequently, he was responsible for the Burma Timber and Bangladesh Fertiliser Corporation projects. Later, he was responsible for the lending programme for Guinea as well as having responsibility for other mining and industrial projects in francophone West Africa.

Following a two-year sabbatical in Europe and the United States to spend time with his young family, he became a partner in Logan Associates prior to joining BTG.

He is: Chairman of The Intellectual Property Institute Board; Chairman of the UK government’s Intellectual Property Advisory Committee; a Member of Air Products & Chemicals Inc. European Advisory Council; a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute; a Fellow of the University of Nottingham; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; a Director of Primaxis Technology Ventures Inc.; a Member of the Appointments Committee of the PPARC Council; a Member of the Industry Advisory Board, Center for IP Studies (CIP) Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg University; and a Visiting Fellow Tanaka Business School, Imperial College.

He has been a student for many years of the history and trends of global invention and technology development and the related role of IP. BTG has been patenting globally for since the early 1950’s and has derived about 75% of its income from outside the UK, with Japan historically having been the largest revenue source outside the US.

He has written many articles and book chapters and lectures widely on global intellectual property and technology issues.

IAN JUDGE
Ian Judge graduated from Cambridge University in 1963 with a BA degree in Natural Sciences and Law (MA 1967). In 1964 he joined Bristows as a trainee solicitor. He qualified as a solicitor in 1967 and became a partner in Bristows in 1969. He retired from the Bristows’ partnership in 2002 and has been a consultant to Bristows since that date. His practice during his career with Bristows has been principally in the field of Intellectual Property with an emphasis on patents. He was Head of Intellectual Property at Bristows from 1992 to 2002, and Senior Partner of the firm from 1997 to 2002. He was Chairman of the UK’s Intellectual Property Lawyers Association from 1997 to 2001. He is a member of the Focus Group advising the UK government on the proposals for a European Court for European Patents.

Ian Judge’s first significant contact with Japan came in 1978, when he represented Pilot Corporation of Japan in securing trade mark clearance to enable the company to trade in the UK under the name PILOT. Ian Judge has been a non-executive director of The Pilot Pen Company (UK) Limited, the UK subsidiary of Pilot Corporation, since 1979.

In 1983 Ian Judge was engaged to represent Ishihara Sangyo Kaisha Limited in patent proceedings in the English Patents Court which were part of an international complex of legal proceedings also involving Dow Chemical of the USA and ICI plc. In the course of these proceedings (1983 to 1987) Ian Judge visited Japan five times and developed a great interest in the country. Since 1987 he has visited the country a further eight times, on client business, for speaking engagements and for business development purposes. Representative clients for whom Ian Judge has acted since 1983 on Intellectual Property matters have included Takeda Pharmaceutical and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.
Further details of Ian Judge’s career can be found under ‘People’ at www.bristows.com.

Developments in Legal Issues in IP in China and Japan