Healthcare Policy: Insights from the Intellectual Property Protection Workshop

R&D in the healthcare sector demands substantial resources and investment. Therefore, effective IP rights protection for medical companies is crucial for achieving sustainable development and ultimately benefiting more Chinese patients.

The “US-China Phase One Trade Agreement,” signed on January 15, 2020, highlighted the importance of IP-related content, occupying one-fifth of the entire agreement. Against this backdrop, AmCham China invited IP experts from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the US Patent and Trademark Office, and the Covington & Burling Law Firm to share insights into China-US patents regulations and IP laws.

2020年1月15日中美双方签署《中美第一阶段经贸协议》，并于2月14日正式生效。协议包括序言、知识产权、技术转让等九章内容，知识产权的相关内容位列第一章，且内容篇幅近五分之一，可见知识产权的保护与利用对于两国企业在经贸活动中的重要性。基于此背景，中国美国商会邀请美国驻华大使馆经济处、美国专利及商标局相关专家以及美国科文顿·柏灵律师事务所来给会员企业分享对中美医疗专利相关法规法律的解读和思考。

Michael Hart, President of AmCham China; Everett Wakai, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs of the US Embassy in Beijing; and William Hope, Economic Officer at the US Embassy in Beijing, delivered insightful speeches at the seminar. They emphasized the importance of cooperation between China and the US in IP protection, highlighting its potential to benefit industry development and facilitate global economic and trade growth.

Shangke Cui, Director of the Intellectual Property Protection Department of China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), provided updates on the “Implementing Measures for Drug Patent Dispute Early Resolution Mechanism.” Director Cui stressed the Chinese government’s commitment to IP protection and outlined advancements in the IP protection system, using the early resolution mechanism for drug patent disputes as an illustrative example.

中国美国商会总裁何迈可（Michael Hart）、美国驻华大使馆商务公使衔事务参赞Everett Wakai 以及美国驻华大使馆经济处官员何伟乾（William Hope）分别为研讨会致辞。他们在致辞中共同强调了知识产权保护对中美两国合作的重要性。不断深化保护知识产权领域的合作，不仅有利于中美两个国家创新技术的发展，也有利于全球经济贸易的稳定和繁荣。

国家知识产权局知识产权保护司处长崔尚科以《药品专利纠纷早期解决机制和相关知识产权保护最新情况》为题做了分享。崔处长提出，中国始终高度重视知识产权保护，并且不断积极完善知识产权保护体系。在分享中，崔处长以药品专利纠纷早期解决机制为例，为各位参会代表详尽地介绍了药品专利相关的制度演变、专利信息登记平台以及专利侵权纠纷行政裁决机制等等。

Michael Mangelson, IP Counselor at the US Embassy in Beijing, shared insights on navigating IP challenges in China’s healthcare sector post the US-China Phase One Trade Agreement. He provided important suggestions for foreign enterprises, including building a multi-level legal network and elevating IP awareness beyond the corporate level.

Ruixue Ran, a partner at Covington & Burling Law Firm, and her team shared a case study illustrating how they could have assisted infringed foreign enterprises in China to resolve patent disputes. The team analyzed legal procedural differences between China and the U.S. in handling patent disputes, proposing solutions for cross-border disputes to achieve the best outcome.

美国专利及商标局知识产权参赞孟旺贤（Michael Mangelson）是美国驻中国大使馆的知识产权顾问，为美国政府和中国律师团队提供知识产权领域的法律建议。孟先生以《中美第一阶段贸易协议对中美知识产权保护体系带来的机遇和挑战》为题展开演讲。孟先生分析了《中美第一阶段贸易协议》之后中国的知识产权保护现状，并为在华外资企业保护自身知识产权提出了几点重要建议，例如，为企业的产品服务搭建多层次、互补的全球知识产权保护法律网络；知识产权意识不应仅局限在企业合规部门等等。

美国科文顿·柏灵律师事务所合伙人冉瑞雪及其律师团队以生动的模拟案例形式分享律师团队如何帮助被侵权的在华外资企业解决专利纠纷问题。冉律师团队对中美处理专利争议的程序差异做出了分析，并结合丰富的执业经验，提出了如何在中美跨境争议解决中做出整体考量，实现最终1+1大于2的最佳解决效果。