Patents and Innovation in Mainland China and Hong Kong: Two Systems in One Country Compared

Description

How do patents affect innovation in mainland China and Hong Kong? How can two patent systems operate within one country and how is innovation affected by the 'one country two systems' model? For the first time, this book links these challenging issues together and provides a comprehensive overview for government officials, law-makers, academics, law practitioners and students to understand the patent systems of mainland China and Hong Kong. Themes examined include the interaction between the two distinctive patent regimes, the impact of patents on innovation in China's specific industries such as green tech, traditional Chinese medicines and telecommunications, the role of utility models in inflating low-quality patents and the application of good faith principle in enforcing FRAND in mainland China, patent system reforms in Hong Kong, and the impact of these changes on innovation in the two vastly distinctive yet closely connected jurisdictions.

Yahong Li graduated from Stanford University, California, with a Doctorate in Science of Law. She teaches and researches intellectual property law extensively, in particular on the intersection of intellectual property (IP) and innovation. Her major publications include: Imitation to Innovation in China: The Role of Patents in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries (2010), International and Comparative Intellectual Property: Law, Policy and Practice (2005), 'China' in L. Bentley (ed.) International Copyright Law and Practice (2015 onward). She is an Associate Professor and Director of the L.L.M. Program in Intellectual Property and Information Technology at the Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong, a member of ATRIP, and an Honorary Advisor of Hong Kong Institute of Patent Attorneys.

'In the international IP community a knowledge gap exists with regard to the fact that China employs two different, but complementary patent systems. The book giving deep comparative insight into both systems and furthermore promotes additional, valuable knowledge concerning other territories of 'Greater China'.' Heinz Goddar, European and German Patent and Trademark Attorney 'With uncertainties about the Unified Patent Court and system in Europe and the disruptions of long-standing expectations by the Supreme Court in the United States, China promises to emerge as the primary place where researchers and investors can vindicate their faith in the future of intellectual property. In that new emerging world of IP, knowledge of Chinese IP law and practice will be at a premium. Chinese IP has an additional point of attraction: it is actually two systems - one on the mainland and one in the traditional Asian economic powerhouse of Hong Kong. This book by Professor Li opens the door to both systems and increases insight into both by comparison. As China continues to emerge as the center pole holding up the tent of IP, Professor Li's book will teach ways to use that tent and its center pole to protect the world's IP assets.' Judge Randall Rader, Principal, The Rader Group; former Chief Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit