June 20, 2002

Japan-China Motorcycle Industry Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Project First Symposium

<Date/Time> June 14 (Friday), 2002 / 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
<Location> Beijing, China (Beijing Hotel Conference Room)

<Speakers and Topics>

Speaker Topics
Mr. Jiang Lei, Executive Director and Chief Secretary, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) Keynote Speech for CAAM side "Development and Promotion of the Chinese Motorcycle Industry"
Mr. Takao Suzuki, President and Vice Chairman, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Keynote Speech for JAMA side "JAMA Expectations for Copy Product Countermeasures and the Intellectual Property Rights Joint Project"
Ms. Wu Nigyan, Manager of Clause Making Section, Chinese Knowledge and Industrial Property Rights Bureau "Development of the Chinese Intellectual Property Rights System"
Mr. Toshifumi Hirai, Manager of General Administration Department, Japan Patent Office "Overview of Japan's Intellectual Properly Protection Provisions and Similarity Assessment System"
Ms. Lu Shinhua, Copyright Bureau Case Guidance Manager, Trademark Office, State Administration of Industry and Commerce "China's Copyright Administration -- Current Status, Progress and Trends"
Mr. He Lao, Director of Jialing Corporate Group Research Center "Jialing Corporate Group Intellectual Property Protection Plan" (Chinese manufacturer)
Mr. Masaaki Hattori, Chief Manager of Intellectual Property Department, Planning Division, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. "Intellectual Property Management in the Japanese Motorcycle Industry"
Ms. Hu Ronghui, Director of Intellectual Property Department, Lifan Business Group Corporations of Chongqing "Intellectual Property Rights as the Foundation and Guarantee of Corporate Development"
Panel Discussion "Proposals from Various Fields to Prevent Intellectual Property Rights Infringement & Other Issues"

<Participants>

95 representatives of the Japanese and Chinese governments and manufacturing sector.

<Reactions to the Symposium>

  1. Progress confirmed in boosting awareness of Chinese manufacturers with respect to intellectual property rights protection; raising of hopes that the upcoming Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Project will enhance the awareness of the Chinese motorcycle industry; growth in the creation of intellectual property rights divisions at Chinese manufacturers.
  2. The Chinese Knowledge and Industrial Property Rights Bureau expressed strong support and agreement with regard to the contents of the Japan side presentations, with comments made to the effect that "Internal study sessions should be held at Chinese companies using the Japan presentations as reference"; "This will help raise awareness of intellectual property rights protection," etc.
    The presentation by the Patent Office was praised for explaining the Japanese system in layman's terms. In particular, the explanation of "design similarity assessment" received high marks for reconfirming the topics covered at the Similar Design Research Session convened in April 2002 in Tianjin, China, with the Japan side presentations, for raising the persuasiveness of the explanations it has presented to date.
  3. This was not a one-sided presentation from the Japan side. Chinese manufacturers also stressed the "importance or protecting intellectual property," as well as the "will to achieve original development of motorcycles." Thanks to the energetic participation by Chinese manufacturers, expectations are for a greater lasting impact on other Chinese manufacturers than before.
    The panel discussion was also successful, with numerous questions posed from the audience. Here again, the enthusiastic interest of and actions being taken by Chinese manufacturers in regard to the intellectual property rights issue were clearly identified.

(References)
Details agreed upon by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on February 26, 2002 regarding the "JAMA-CAAM Motorcycle Industry Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Project":

  • Step 1: JAMA-CAAM Similar Design Research Session
  • Step 2: Intellectual Property Rights Symposium
  • Step 3: Intellectual Property Rights Inspection Exchanges (in Japan)
  • Step 4: Joint establishment of a motorcycle intellectual property rights dispute arbitration organization and regularly scheduled intellectual property rights conferences.