In the People’s Republic of China, in Beijing, from September 11-13, 2024, the Third Conference on Intellectual Property was held in the framework of the initiative “Belt and Road”. The Conference was organized by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), National Copyright Administration of China, Ministry of Trade of China and the City of Beijing. The conference was held in the Zhongguancun International Innovation Center. The conference was opened by Shen Changyu, President of CNIPA and Daren Tang, Director General of the WIPO.
The conference, at the invitation of the organizers, was attended also by the delegation of the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia, consisting of two members and headed by the IPO Director, Mr. Vladimir Marić.
In the course of the conference, a bilateral meeting was held with the President of the CNIPA, Mr. Shen Changyu and his team, renewing the Cooperation Agreement between the CNIPA and the IPO, and Letter of Intend Concerning Cooperation in the Field of Indications of Geographical Origin was signed.
During the visit to the People’s Republic of China, IPO Director, Vladimir Marić gave a statement for the Chinese National Television CCTV. On that occasion, the Director of the Office expressed his pleasure that Serbia is a part of the initiative “Belt and Road” which connects states from all continents and which was initiated by China in 2013. In that all encompassing economic and cultural cooperation between states and peoples, intellectual property holds a very important place. Intellectual property is the basis for entire industries which employ our citizens and contribute to the progress of our economies. Building up efficient and operational system of protection for patents, trademarks, copyright, etc. is not an easy task. Often, it is a long and strenuous activity, demanding significant financial investments and continual adjustment to dynamic technological changes which we witness today. However, the basis of that progress, like always in history, is constituted by educated experts, their knowledge, dedication and skills. The initiative “Belt and Road” presents the opportunity to learn from each other. Every country, from the smallest to the largest, needs such exchange of knowledge with other countries and we need the rules of behaviour that are honest, clear and equal for all. Therefore, Serbia is thus prepared, in the framework of the initiative “Belt and Road”, to adopt new ideas, but also to transfer to the others, as much as possible, some of its experience and knowledge. We need one another.
During several plenary sessions held in the course of the conference, cooperation was presented in the field of the promotion of innovations and creativity with the aim to achieve economic development, digital transformation, the role of intellectual property in the promotion of the green agenda and sustainable development and support to the marketing of results through the models of the financing of innovations protected by intellectual property rights. Director Marić presided the plenary session devoted to the Green Agenda and Sustainable Development.
In the course of the last day of the conference, a round table was held for partner states in the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative where the achieved results were discussed in the framework of existing programs of cooperation in the field of intellectual property.
