The John Marshall Law School in Chicago announced early this month the establishment of the Chinese Intellectual Property Resource Center during the US-China Intellectual Property (IP) Protection Cooperation and Research Forum.

It is the first center in the United States dedicated to collecting Chinese IP resources.

The center will serve US students and IP specialists as a window into the Chinese IP system.

It will also serve Chinese IP specialists as a forum for international study and ongoing discussions of developing features of China's IP system.

The center will provide a much-needed link for US and Chinese officials, judges, lawyers, academics and students regarding shared issues of IP development and usage in China, as well as transfers of technology and other intellectual property to and from China, school officials said.

Professor Dorothy Li, one of the founders of the center and co-director of the Asian Alliance Program, said the purpose of the center is to deepen American scholars' understanding of the current status and laws of Chinese IP protection, as well as to promote a US-China information exchange.

The center will collect and communicate Chinese IP regulations, laws and trends to American and Chinese IP professionals.

A Chinese delegation led by State Intellectual Property Office Deputy Commissioner Shaoning Gan attended the forum and offered congratulations.

Gan said China's State Intellectual Property Office provided support to help establish the center and donated the first set of Chinese books and materials on IP issues to the center.

"The establishment of the center provides a wonderful platform for the United States and China and will promote understanding and exchanges between the two countries in the IP area," Gan told Xinhua News Agency.

The John Marshal Law School began working with China's State Intellectual Property Office in 1994 on shared training and information exchange initiatives.

Xinhua

(China Daily 09/14/2009 page9)