Preface 1

James Pooley
Chairman of the National Inventors Hall of Fame
Deputy Director General of the World Intelleetllal Property Organization

“Rome was not built in a day”, the establishment and implementation of intellectual property system is a long process of trial and construction, and is still undergoing through adjustment. In U.S., the patent system or more precisely, the judgment on patent cases still swings.For example, the software patent is now going through more scrutinization than the past, and there are hot deputes on software patentability in the IP area.

China's IP system was built up in 1980's, after decades of rapid development, this 30 year-old IP system has already made remarkable success and has earned praises from peers all over the world. Filing patent, trademark and copyright in China is now leading the world in quantity. As a developing country, China offers sufficient patent protection. For example, telecommunication giant Qualcomm has benefited a lot and made billions of dollars on patent licensing in China. Another example is that China has not used compulsory licensing on any drug, which enables foreign drug companies making huge profit from Chinese market. As a comparison, India has granted many compulsory licensing on patented lifesaving drug which western drug companies had spent billions of dollars in R&D.

The quantity of patent filing from China has been ranked first in the world for five consecutive years up to now. In 2015, PCT filings from China ranked third in the world, only after the United States and Japan. There is an argument that it is just quantity without quality. However, Huawei has filed patent infringement litigation against Samsung regarding core telecommunication technology in the United States and China at the same time recently. It's a landmark event. Because it is the first time in history that a Chinese company files core technology patent infringement litigation against a foreign industry giant in United States. It is a good example to show that overseas patents filed by China are also improving in quality.

This book “The Operation of Intellectual Property — Touching the Future” looks into IP operation's development, model and method with the focus on practice in China. It aims to help enterprises, colleges, research institutions, IP operation organizations, and IP owners those who want to get further benefit from innovative way besides IP traditional implementation. The book provides various method, advice and practical examples from experienced professionals, such as in-house and outside counsel, agents, scholars, researchers and IP service providers. It analyzes IP operations in the past and present at a view of global approach and predicts the future development of IP operation.

It has been a real pleasure and privilege to write this preface. Over many centuries China has produced some of the world's greatest inventions that we all continue to enjoy today. As we look to the future of China's contributions to technology development, I think we can expect more miracles here.