April 26 will mark the World Intellectual Property Day. As the largest trade fair in China which always reveals new domestic trends, the ongoing 123rd Canton Fair sees an increased number of upgraded “Made-in-China brands focusing more on producing high-tech and green products.
Many exhibitors said they had strengthened international exchange and kept improving product competitiveness. They are developing stronger patent portfolios both at home and abroad, saying that holding a patent is like holding a ‘passport’ to overseas markets.
Patent products shine
A special oven with the function of ‘cooking’ various fresh hot Cantonese dishes, successfully caught the eyes’ of foreign buyers at the Canton Fair. This oven was produced by a Guangdong home appliance brand called Galanz.
“This is our latest model which has three-in-one functionality combining microwaving, steam and roast, said Xian Jialiang, Galanz’s vice sales director of foreign trade, “on this model only, our company invested 35 million yuan in R&D and was granted 21 patents.
Xian Jialiang added that since technological innovations and intellectual properties are increasingly important, Galanz has formed a special department responsible for IP-related issues. “We are also increasing our technical exchange with experts worldwide so as to improve our products’ international competitiveness.”
“Made in China” products attract overseas buyers at the 123rd Canton Fair. [Photo/Wu Weihong]
Canca, a Chaozhou-based electronics company, has attended every Canton Fair since it started holding patents on smart toilets in 2011. Huang Weijian, Cancas general manager assistant, said the company’s patent portfolio could increase its influence on the global stage. As most of the smart toilets core technology is now owned by Japan and Korea, our efforts in R&D aim to narrow the gap with them and access a wider market, she said.
Exhibitors like Galanz and Canca can be found all across the Canton Fair since China has begun to emphasize its capacity for innovation in recent years. Guangdong for example, invested over 230 billion yuan in R&D last year while pushing forward a series of strategies to encourage patent application. With this support, the number of effective patents had exceeded 200 thousand by the end of 2017.
IPR protection wins praise from both exhibitors and buyers
Walking around the exhibition hall, you see “No Photo signs everywhere. Exhibitors are paying more attention to infringement and are actively seeking protection of their intellectual property rights at this year’s Canton Fair.
Zhu Xiaomei, CSO of Guangdong Xinbao Electrical Appliances, said Xinbao brought new products and technology every year, but only demonstrated it to clients in the VIP room. We have also applied for patents on all of our products in China. And for some models, we even hold patents in overseas markets, she added.
Zhu Xiaomei mentioned the complaint station for IPR and trade dispute that had been set up in every hall at the Canton Fair. We have solved a few infringement cases through these stations in recent years, she said, for example, we found a copy cat at the Canton Fair last year and then immediately handed all the related materials to the station. It helped protect our rights and prevented further loss.
The complaint station for IPR and trade dispute at the 123rd Canton Fair [Photo/Hu Nan]
As an important platform for encouraging innovation, the Canton Fair began attaching more and more importance to patent protection as early as 1999 when the complaint station for IPR and trade disputes was set up. The station has developed a protection system applicable to the actual practices of the fair and able to effectively punish violations of IPR.
To ensure a fair and open legal environment, Xu Bing, spokesman for the Canton Fair, said the fair had introduced both the national and the Guangdong IPR law enforcement departments to the station, and invited a team of arbitration and mediation experts for trade disputes. We also plan to improve peoples knowledge of IP protection through discussion of some typical cases which have come up over the past few years, he said.
The Canton Fairs strategies to protect IPR also won praise from the overseas buyers. YongTseYun, a buyer from Malaysia, said he saw an infringement years ago. An exhibitor we cooperated with used the trademark of an overseas brand when producing components. We solved this case via the complaint station, he said, but similar situations seem to seldom happen nowadays. I think this can be directly attributed to the fair’s efforts to protect IPR.
Reported by Jasmine Yin, Li He, Wang Jiaxin
Edited by Wing Zhang, Simon Haywood
知识产权成广交会企业国际“通行证”
在“4.26 世界知识产权日”即将到来之际, 记者在被誉为“中国第一展”的广交会上见到越来越多代表“中国智造”先进水平的品牌企业参展。这些品牌带来了各类优质的自主知识产权、高技术含量和低碳环保产品，吸引了来自世界各地的采购商。
同时，众多参展商表示，他们正在积极进行国内外知识产权布局，增强国际技术交流，以提升自身的市场竞争力。因为，知识产权已经成为拓展当地市场的“通行证”，没有它根本寸步难行。
“中国制造”打造国际“新名片”
在广交会的家电展区内，一份份热气腾腾的广式美食不断从一台极具科技感的烤箱中出炉，吸引了众多采购商的目光。“这是我们最新推出的微蒸烤一体机，仅这一台机器，就投入了3500万元进行研发，拥有21项专利。”格兰仕Galanz 外贸部销售副总监冼嘉亮告诉记者。
“技术创新和专利对现今的企业越来越重要，企业加强知识产权布局，不仅是为了开拓市场，更多的是提升对自己产品的信心和保护。”她介绍，格兰仕目前设置了专门的部门负责公司的知识产权工作，同时还加强与世界各地的技术研发交流，提升产品在全球范围内的竞争力。
事实上，拥有知识产权，已经成为当今出口企业进入国际市场的“通行证”。潮州市创佳电子有限公司自2011年便开始设计拥有自主知识产权的智能电子马桶，每期广交会创佳都会带来十几款新品参展。
公司总经理助理黄伟铿对记者表示：“公司进行专利布局，主要为了产品升级、提升产品在国内外的影响力。同时，目前智能马桶的核心技术大多数还掌握在日本、韩国手中，我们在技术研发方面努力，也是为了进一步缩小与他们的差距，获得更大的市场。”
近年来，中国不断推动实施创新驱动发展战略，越来越多像格兰仕、创佳这样的企业出现在广交会的展馆中。以广东为例，去年省内研发投入总量超过２３００亿元，并出台了一系列方案大力推动发明专利的培育。据国家知识产权局的统计数据显示，截至2017年底，广东有效发明专利量就达到20.85万件。
加强知识产权保护 参展商、采购商齐点赞
走在展厅内，除了琳琅满目的最新产品，谢绝拍照的提示标牌亦随处可见。我们在本届广交会看到越来越多的参展企业重视知识产权保护，避免侵权，更主动维权。
广东新宝电器首席营销官、副总裁朱小梅告诉记者, 公司每年都会带新的产品与技术来广交会参展，但这些最新的产品和技术只会在展位二楼的专门VIP室对客户开放。而且新品都会申请国内专利，对于特殊的产品会申请全球专利，防止产品被侵权。
“一旦被侵权，我们都会积极向投诉接待站寻求维权。”朱小梅告诉记者，去年该公司在广交会上发现一款新产品被“山寨”，马上向投诉接待站上交相关的专利证书等资料举证，成功维权，为企业挽回了损失。朱小梅提到的知识产权和贸易纠纷投诉接待站，如今已经遍布广交会展馆内的不同区域。
作为展示中国政府保护知识产权、鼓励创新的重要窗口，其实广交会早在1999年就设有投诉接待站。经过多年的探索实践，广交会已初步建立了一套比较完整、符合自身实际的知识产权保护体系，有效地打击了广交会期间的侵权行为。
据广交会新闻发言人徐兵介绍，广交会邀请了国家和广东省知识产权执法部门和专业的贸易纠纷仲裁、调解专家驻会，保证案件处理公平、公正、公开。同时，他表示，“广交会历来重视知识产权保护，我们将对知识产权保护工作取得的成效、经验、典型案例等进行归纳提炼传播,确保知识产权保护理念落地生根。”
广交会对知识产权保护工作也得到了海外采购商的高度认可和赞扬。一名来自马来西亚的采购商YongTseYun对多年前在广交会上遭遇的一次侵权行为印象深刻，“当时我们合作的一家参展商在出厂零部件产品时，私下使用了其他国家品牌的商标，后来通过广交会成功维权。”他坦言，这样的情况在近年的广交会上越来越少出现了，这充分说明广交会在知识产权保护方面作出的努力取得了成效。
记者：李赫，王佳欣，尹珏文
编辑：张莹、海武
