Recently, the 15th Heads Meeting Between CNIPA and EPO was held via video. Shen Changyu, head of China National Intellectual Property Administration, and António Campinos, head of the European Patent Office, attended the meeting together. The two sides briefed on the latest progress of their respective IPR work, reviewed the cooperation between CNIPA and EPO and had an in-depth exchange on future cooperation.

Shen Changyu said that in the face of the challenges of the continued spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic, CNIPA and EPO have maintained close communication and deepened cooperation this year, successfully promoting cooperation in various areas such as review quality, automation, literature and classification. The results of the cooperation between CNIPA and EPO are benefiting more and more IPR users and serving innovation and economic and social development in China and Europe. We look forward to the joint efforts of the two sides to deepen the cooperation between CNIPA and EPO and achieve more fruitful results.

António Campinos said that under the current global COVID-19 pandemic situation, Chinese users continue to see significant growth in the number of patent applications to Europe, and the quality of applications is improving rapidly, and the European Patent Office will actively provide better services to meet the needs of Chinese users. He highly appreciated the effectiveness of the cooperation between the two sides this year and hoped that the two sides would actively share their advanced experience in the future and continue to open up new horizons of cooperation.

After the meeting, the two sides signed the 2022 annual work plan for cooperation between CNIPA and EPO and the agreement related to EPOQUE Net.

Gan Shaoning, Deputy Director of China National Intellectual Property Administration, and Christoph Ernst, Deputy Director of the European Patent Office, attended the meeting.