On October 19, the 2024 International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) World Congress opened in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province in southeastern China. Shoichi Okuyama, President of the AIPPI, Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Shen Changyu, Commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), and Yi Lianhong, Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, addressed the opening ceremony one after another. Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), presided over the opening ceremony. Afterward, Ren met with persons in charge of the AIPPI, the WIPO and other organizations, and important guests attending the congress.
This edition marks the first holding in China of the annual World Congress since the AIPPI’s establishment 127 years ago. It was cohosted by the CCPIT and the AIPPI, and co-organized by the Hangzhou Municipal People’s Government and the AIPPI China. With the theme of “Balanced Protection and Innovative Development of IP Rights,” it welcomed nearly 2300 individuals in the field of IP rights from 92 countries and regions, over 1500 of which were foreign participants. The four-day congress features more than 100 professional activities, including an opening ceremony, a Council of Presidents’ meeting, plenary sessions, panel sessions, Executive Committee meetings, and a closing ceremony, alongside cultural activities full of Hangzhou characteristics.
Before the opening ceremony of the congress, the AIPPI for the first time organized nearly 100 attendees to sit in on the trial of an invention patent infringement case by the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang. Lawyers and patent agents from countries and regions around the world experienced for the first time the trial proceedings in a Chinese court at close range, and they praised the openness, professionalism, and vivacity of the court session. Furthermore, the congress will focus on discussing four draft resolutions on IP topics. After thorough discussion and adoption by vote, these draft resolutions will become one of its core outcomes.
