AIPPI World Congress 2019 opens in London
AIPPI’s annual World Congress kicked off in London yesterday, with former UK IP minister Jo Johnson welcoming lawyers from across the world to the three day event.
Speaking at the opening ceremony last night, Johnson said the congress was a “real tribute” to the UK, albeit “at a time of considerable turbulence in UK politics”.
“The UK is normally famous for its stability, but we are going through a challenging time as try to deliver on the results of 2016 [Brexit referendum].
“But, come what may, the UK will remain one of the best places around the world to protect and maintain IP rights going forward,” he assured attendees.
Equally, he said while the UK market highly respects IP, it does not allow it to “stifle enterprise or crimp business”.
This was echoed by Robin Jacob, former justice in the Court of Appeals of England and Wales and now chair of IP at University College London, who said one of the key challenges in the field is that there is “too much” IP protection.
“It is a mystery to me why soft IP, like trademarks and copyright, grows and grows whereas patents are knocked back”.
He said that in recent years, patent protection is becoming harder to obtain. He said this “weakening” of patent protection in the biosciences sector was particularly problematic because it is hindering the invention of new methods of diagnoses.
“If you diagnose something, you can treat it. Do we want to encourage that or don’t we?” he asked.
In contrast, the “the overreach for trademarks is getting greater all around the world, and I don’t see that it does any good.” He said that in his view “sometimes a trademark is just a form of sheer protectionism”.
Jacob said another challenge for the future of IP across the world are the “inadequate litigation systems”, adding that China was setting precedent in this area by concentrating “huge efforts and really bright judges on patent litigation and enforcement”.
AIPPI’s president, Renata Righetti, who officially opened the congress, said it was the biggest one to date with more than 2,400 attendees.
Over the course of the conference, lawyers will have the opportunity to attend a broad range of panel discussions, which Righetti said will touch upon some of the key emerging technologies in the IP field.
“The world is changing very much. We are discussing artificial intelligence, stem cells, things that were unthinkable in the past, so we must also adapt,” she said.
Aside from new tech, panels will also discuss topics such as Brexit’s impact, FRAND licensing, the effective protection of trade secrets, as well as the role of customs authorities in IP protection and enforcement.
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