New book by Yahong Li: Patents and Innovation in Mainland China and Hong Kong
Patents and Innovation in Mainland China and Hong Kong: Two Systems in One Country Compared
Editor: Yahong Li
Published in Cambridge University Press, October 2017, 286 pp.
Description: How do patents affect innovation in Mainland China and Hong Kong? How can two patent systems operate within one country and how is innovation affected by the ‘one country two systems’ model? For the first time, this book links these challenging issues together and provides a comprehensive overview for government officials, law-makers, academics, law practitioners and students to understand the patent systems of Mainland China and Hong Kong. Themes examined include the interaction between the two distinctive patent regimes, the impact of patents on innovation in China’s specific industries such as green tech, traditional Chinese medicines and telecommunications, the role of utility models in inflating low-quality patents and the application of good faith principle in enforcing FRAND in Mainland China, patent system reforms in Hong Kong, and the impact of these changes on innovation in the two vastly distinctive yet closely connected jurisdictions.
- The first detailed study of the links between Mainland China and Hong Kong in the area of patents and innovation
- Describes the establishment of Hong Kong’s indigenous patent system and how it was reformed after the handover to China
- Analyzes in depth the role of patents in China’s individual industries such as green tech, traditional Chinese medicines and telecommunications
Chapters were contributed by some of the students and graduates of the Faculty of Law’s research postgraduate programme including Dr Chen Yifu, Dr Gao Li and Miss Yu Limeng.
Advance Praise
‘In the international IP community a knowledge gap exists with regard to the fact that China employs two different, but complementary patent systems. The book giving deep comparative insight into both systems and furthermore promotes additional, valuable knowledge concerning other territories of ‘Greater China’.’ —– Heinz Goddar, European and German Patent and Trademark Attorney
‘With uncertainties about the Unified Patent Court and system in Europe and the disruptions of long-standing expectations by the Supreme Court in the United States, China promises to emerge as the primary place where researchers and investors can vindicate their faith in the future of intellectual property. In that new emerging world of IP, knowledge of Chinese IP law and practice will be at a premium. Chinese IP has an additional point of attraction: it is actually two systems – one on the mainland and one in the traditional Asian economic powerhouse of Hong Kong. This book by Professor Li opens the door to both systems and increases insight into both by comparison. As China continues to emerge as the center pole holding up the tent of IP, Professor Li’s book will teach ways to use that tent and its center pole to protect the world’s IP assets.’ —– Judge Randall Rader, Principal, The Rader Group; former Chief Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit