On Monday 22^nd May 2023, the Sino-France Symposium, which is themed “Protecting patent rights through judicial route in France and China: The impact of UPC toward litigation in Europe”, is held at the French embassy in Beijing. The Symposium is part of the 11^th Sino-France Law & Judicial Exchange week.

The attendees are welcomed by French Ambassador to China Bertrand Lortholary, Director General of the Institut National de la Propriété industrielle (INPI), Pascal Faure, Magistrate of Liaison of the Embassy of France in Thailand, Jean-François REDONNET, as well as Intellectual Property Counsellor at the Embassy of France in Beijing Julie HERVÉ.

Isabelle GRENIER, Intellectual Property Law Specialist and certified lawyer of Avocats au Barreau de Marseille prepares the floor with “An Introduction to Patent Litigation in France”. Florence Butin, President of the Court of First Instance, Unified Patent Court (UPC) gives the attendees “An Introduction to Unified Patent and Unified Patent Court in Europe”. Wei Lei, Presiding Judge of the Intellectual Property Court of Supreme People’s Court (SPCIPC) gives an introduction on the SPCIPC.

Feng (Janet) Zheng, Partner of Wanhuida Intellectual Property speaks on “China Patent Practice Overview: Litigation & Invalidity”. Janet shares her comparative study of the patent enforcement regime, infringement litigation proceeding and invalidity regime in China and France and delineates China’s patent litigation landscape from a statistical perspective.

After a heated Q&A session, the Symposium is concluded by Jean-François REDONNET and Julie HERVÉ.

Janet (1^st from right) speaking at the Symposium