Small and medium-sized enterprises are an important part of the national economy and an important source of innovation vitality. Under the current situation of increasingly fierce global scientific and technological competition, strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights of small and medium-sized enterprises is not only a necessary condition for safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of small and medium-sized enterprises, but also an important means to stimulate the innovation vitality of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Recently, the seminar on "Strengthening the Intellectual Property Protection of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Promoting the High-quality Development of the Private Economy", hosted by the Case Law Research Association of the China Law Society and the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province, and undertaken by the Law School of South China Normal University, was held in Guangzhou. The meeting was chaired by Hu Yunteng, president of the Case Law Research Association of the China Law Society, and Gong Jiali, member of the Advisory Committee of the Supreme People's Court, attended and spoke at the meeting.

Hu Yunteng pointed out that the meeting should be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, build consensus, promote each other, actively respond to the needs of judicial protection of intellectual property rights and social concerns in the new era, and contribute to comprehensively strengthening judicial protection of intellectual property rights and promoting the healthy development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Gong Jiali believes that SMEs are important beneficiaries and participants of the digital economy, and it is an important task for IP adjudication to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights in the network environment, encourage SMEs to take the road of innovation and development, grow up in healthy competition, and solve difficulties for SMEs in accordance with the law. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area should give full play to the advantages of the "three jurisdictions", focus on strengthening international cooperation in the creation, application, protection and trade of intellectual property rights, and use more fresh cases to promote the improvement of the judicial protection system for intellectual property rights with Chinese characteristics.

"This conference aims to discuss the key, hot and difficult issues of intellectual property protection of small and medium-sized enterprises in China in the business environment under the rule of law, deeply explore the value of the rule of law and social value of relevant typical cases, discuss the judgment ideas and handling principles of strengthening intellectual property protection to help small and medium-sized enterprises innovate and develop, promote the innovation of intellectual property protection system, create a market-oriented, rule-of-law, and international business environment, form an institutional foundation for intellectual property to empower the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and better play the solid foundation of the rule of law, stabilize expectations, and better play the rule of law. It will play a long-term guarantee role and provide assistance to the construction of a modern socialist country on the track of rule of law. Hu Yunteng said at the opening ceremony. Li Chuanjiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and vice president of South China Normal University, and Wang Jing, full-time member of the Adjudication Committee of the Guangdong Higher People's Court, delivered speeches respectively.

Small and medium-sized enterprises have become the main body of innovation, and the protection of intellectual property is facing new challenges

Scientific and technological innovation is inseparable from the power of small and medium-sized enterprises. Data show that small and medium-sized enterprises provide about 70% of the country's invention patents and have become the main body of innovation in China. Most small and medium-sized enterprises have the characteristics of late start, small scale and low ability to resist risks, and especially need more support from the government and relevant departments in their development. At the main forum of the conference, a number of industry representatives, experts and scholars made keynote speeches.

Hao Zhonglin, Vice President of the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court, delivered a video speech, introducing the trial of relevant typical cases and the operation of the court since the establishment of the Intellectual Property Court by the Supreme People's Court on January 2019, 1, in order to further unify the adjudication standards and further improve the quality and efficiency of adjudication, and put forward the specific concept of adhering to the judicial protection of eight technical intellectual property rights: "favorable protection, strong protection, effective protection, efficient protection, key protection, equal protection, integrity protection, and coordinated protection". He said that the protection of intellectual property rights is a systematic project, and it can be fully undertaken by non-judicial or court alone. Adhering to the judicial concept of coordinated protection of strengthening the protection of the whole chain of intellectual property rights, the court strengthens communication and coordination with other IPR-related law enforcement departments, actively plays the role of multiple dispute resolution channels, and synergistically improves the synergy and protection effect of protection.

Song Jianjian, deputy director of the Intellectual Property Procuratorate Office of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said that intellectual property rights are a balancing mechanism for competing interests. While protecting all kinds of intellectual property rights, the Intellectual Property Sector Law also stipulates systems such as fair use, fair use, defense of prior use rights, and defense of prior art, requiring the exercise of rights to follow the principles of good faith. "It can be said that attaching importance to and improving the interest balance system is also an important symbol of a more rational intellectual property system in China, and it is necessary to accurately grasp the legal principles of intellectual property rights in judicial work." Song Jianjian emphasized.

"SMEs are in a weak position in negotiations with platforms and can only be forced to accept unfair terms. Although civil litigation can be brought to claim that the standard clauses are invalid, SMEs generally do not have the time, energy and funds to devote such litigation activities, and it is unknown whether their claims can be upheld by the courts. Yi Jiming, Director of the International Intellectual Property Research Center of Peking University, shared the case of manufacturers independently designing and creating results that were forcibly transferred through formatted unequal contract terms packaging, and analyzed the difficulties of SMEs in protecting their rights.

"FMCG products have a short life cycle, but the litigation time is long and the cost is high, and their product life cycle may have passed after the judgment takes effect. As true designers and creators, small and medium-sized enterprises will pay the painful price of losses or even bankruptcy whether they win or lose the lawsuit. Professor Yi Jiming called on large enterprises and platforms to play an exemplary role in driving win-win cooperation and common development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and consolidating the industrial chain and supply chain; Small and medium-sized enterprises should also pay more attention to litigation and rights protection, effectively improve litigation capabilities and strengthen litigation will, "let intellectual property rights return to real workers, large and small enterprises work hand in hand, gain real advantages in international competition, enhance core competitiveness, and usher in steady and sustained high-quality development." ”

Professor Ma Yide, deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and Dean of the School of Intellectual Property of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered a keynote speech on "The Harm of Intellectual Property Abuse to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Its Regulation", and put forward suggestions for improving the system to regulate malicious complaints about intellectual property rights. "Some market entities, driven by commercial interests, have acquired intellectual property rights by improper means or have no basis for intellectual property rights at all. With the further increase of downward pressure on the economy, this phenomenon has intensified, and it is more prominent in many fields such as e-commerce. Ma Yide said, "At present, there is an urgent need to improve intellectual property protection, protect true 'innovation', strengthen the regulation of intellectual property abuse, continuously optimize the business environment, help enterprises solve problems, overcome difficulties, recover, increase vitality, and boost market confidence." ”

Recently, the State Intellectual Property Office issued the Implementation Plan for the Inclusive Project of Intellectual Property Public Services (2023-2025), which aims to provide support for the innovation and development of the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises by building an intellectual property public service system with wider coverage, higher efficiency, better services and better experience.

Zhong Chun, associate professor of the School of Intellectual Property of Jinan University, said: "While the government optimizes the layout of intellectual property for small and medium-sized enterprises, prevents intellectual property risks, and strengthens intellectual property protection, enterprises themselves should also improve their awareness of intellectual property protection, actively protect their rights and interests when they suffer from unequal treatment, and take the ability to transform intellectual property achievements as one of the core competitiveness of enterprises." ”

Experts call for regulating healthy competition among market entities and promoting the high-quality development of the private economy

The private economy is a new force for promoting Chinese-style modernization, an important foundation for high-quality development, and an important force for promoting China's comprehensive construction of a modern socialist power and the realization of the second centenary goal. Focusing on promoting the high-quality development of the private economy and improving the ability of scientific and technological innovation is the key. In July this year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council recently issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy", mentioning "promoting the private economy to become bigger, better and stronger", and proposed a number of measures, including continuing to improve the intellectual property protection system and increasing the protection of the original innovation of private small, medium and micro enterprises.

In the "President's Forum", representatives of intellectual property courts from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou discussed the topic of intellectual property protection of small and medium-sized enterprises and promoting the high-quality development of the private economy.

Xi Jianlin, Secretary of the Party Group and President of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, said, "Intellectual property is the 'golden key' for the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and it is also the 'ballast stone' for the realization of the national intellectual property strategy. We should strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights to empower the high-quality development of the private economy, stimulate the innovation potential of small and medium-sized enterprises, and form a benign competition and innovation atmosphere of 'big rivers have water, small rivers are full of water'."

Liu Shuangyu, Secretary of the Party Group and President of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, introduced the case work of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. She said that the business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises based on the rule of law needs to be further optimized. On the basis of the survey, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court has taken a series of measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises improve their ability to "prevent in advance" and reduce the cost of "post-event relief", but fundamentally it is based on the main business of adjudication, efficiently and properly adjudicating various intellectual property and competition cases in accordance with the law, strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights of small and medium-sized enterprises, and creating a market environment for fair competition and honest operation for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Hong Shiquan, Secretary of the Party Group and President of the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court, gave suggestions on how the court can help small and medium-sized enterprises to bail out their intellectual property protection. "It is necessary to extend judicial functions, play a good combined fist of resolving disputes, and also perform trial duties and give play to the role of adjudication vane." Hong Shiquan said, "Actively protecting intellectual property rights is conducive to small and medium-sized enterprises making positive contributions and playing a greater role in the new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way." ”

In addition, in the sub-forum, dozens of experts and scholars in the legal and practical circles discussed hot topics such as "difficulties in intellectual property protection of small and medium-sized enterprises, facing malicious complaints, overseas development, brand cultivation and improvement of protection mechanisms".

"It is necessary to protect the proper use of intellectual property rights of small and medium-sized enterprises in accordance with the law, and also to prevent the abuse of rights. Acts of dishonesty in the acquisition and exercise of intellectual property rights should be severely cracked down. Lu Xiaoming, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and dean of the Law School of Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, said.

Guan Yuying, director of the Intellectual Property Research Office of the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that at this stage, small and medium-sized enterprises in China generally have the problems of insufficient awareness of intellectual property rights and lack of ability to respond to legal affairs. On the one hand, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises often lack a long-term sense of building their own brands, and are relatively casual and neglectful of registration and management of trademark and design registration and copyright roles. On the other hand, some enterprises lack the awareness of respecting the innovative achievements of others, and these problems require all walks of life to strengthen information exchange and research, pool wisdom and joint governance.

In the process of transformation and upgrading of small and medium-sized enterprises, they face new challenges due to the continuous emergence of new technologies, new formats and new models, such as lack of awareness of their own intellectual property protection, lack of training of intellectual property professionals, being forced to accept unreasonable and unfair conditions and restrictions, signing seemingly legal "overlord clauses", and not being good at safeguarding rights and interests through legal means. "Enterprises and relevant departments need to increase investment together, encourage the cultivation, innovation and support of the protection and transformation of technological innovation achievements of small and medium-sized enterprises, take the initiative to carry out intellectual property construction, and create a better institutional environment and development space for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises." Lai Xiaopeng, a professor at the School of Civil and Commercial Economics and Law of China University of Political Science and Law, shared in the breakout forum.

With the increasing frequency of intellectual property consultations between countries and regions, intellectual property protection has become the focus of economic and trade relations. Zhang Yongzhong, Dean of the Law School of South China Normal University, said: "In the process of developing overseas, SMEs will encounter intellectual property legal risks. Overseas intellectual property protection still needs to be strengthened to help enterprises go global and promote high-quality development. ”

The participants had in-depth exchanges and shared their experiences and reached many consensuses: it is necessary to create a business environment based on the rule of law for small and medium-sized enterprises, respect and protect their own intellectual property rights, improve the awareness of intellectual property protection of small and medium-sized enterprises, form a good situation of fair, orderly and honest operation, and escort the development of small and medium-sized enterprises; It is necessary to encourage large and small enterprises to integrate and innovate and stimulate the innovation potential of small and medium-sized enterprises; It is necessary to regulate the order of intellectual property transfer in accordance with the law, and prevent the occurrence of vicious unequal treaties that take advantage of unequal market status to force the transfer of intellectual property rights, causing small and medium-sized enterprises to be robbed of their own intellectual labor and reduced to purely manual OEM; It is necessary to support the protection of small and medium-sized enterprises to develop their own intellectual property rights and create a good business environment and atmosphere for the vigorous development of small and special specialists; It is necessary to strengthen the supply of public services for the protection of intellectual property rights of small and medium-sized enterprises, and establish and improve the mechanism for rapid coordinated protection of intellectual property rights. (Source: Nanfang Daily South+)

Southern + reporter He Dayuan intern Gao Tianyao