News Archive

IU McKinney’s Center for Intellectual Property Law and Innovation, in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), hosted a program October 18 centered around IP in China.

Titled, “At the Crossroads of American’s Strategies for IP in China: What Indiana Companies Need to Know Now,” the program began with a panel that provided an “Overview of Intellectual Property Protection in China.” Visiting Professor Xiaoming Li talked about “Trademark Protection in China;” Yazhuo Qian of the CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office, which is headquartered in Beijing, discussed “Patent Protection in China;” Conrad Wong, attorney-advisor in the USPTO’s Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA), talked about “Trade Secret Protection in China;” and Qian (“Kelly”) Sheng, program specialist in the USPTO’s OPIA, talked about “Copyright Protection in China.” The panel was moderated by Professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Director of the IP Center and the Gerald Bepko Chair in Law at IU McKinney.

The second panel considered the topic, “Intellectual Property Enforcement in China.” Discussants were Daniel Dougherty, Senior Director, Global Intellectual Property Enforcement for Alibaba Group, who discussed “E-Commerce Perspective – Notice and Take-Down Procedures;” Bruce Longbottom, Assistant General Counsel for Trademarks, Copyrights and Information Technology at Eli Lilly and Company, who talked about “Enforcing Trademark Rights in China;” and Kat Li of McKool Smith, who talked about “Enforcing Patents in China.” The moderator for this panel was William Mansfield, Director of Intellectual Property at ABRO Industries.

Qian (“Kelly”) Sheng, and Mark Cooper, Director of the U.S. Export Assistance Center at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Indiana, discussed “USG Resources for China Intellectual Property Matters,” during the program’s third panel.

The fourth panel of the day talked about “Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in the U.S.” Christopher Bryant, Special Agent, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security Investigations, discussed criminal investigations; MaryAnn Mindrum, Assistant United States Attorney and “CHIP” (Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property) Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana, talked about criminal prosecution; Donald Knebel of Barnes & Thornburg went over Section 337 investigations; and Trevor Carter of Faegre Baker Daniels talked about federal court civil intellectual property litigation. The moderator of this discussion was Molly Kocialski, Director of the USPTO’s Rocky Mountain Regional Office.

Conrad Wong moderated a panel discussion of the topic, “Intellectual Property in China: The Indiana Experience.” Megan Dortenzo, Chief Patent Counsel at Cummins discussed the U.S. industry perspective; William Mansfield, Director of Intellectual Property at ABRO Industries, talked about how to solve counterfeiting problems cost-effectively in China; Sanders N. Hillis, an intellectual property attorney at Brinks Gilson & Lione discussed strategies for procurement and enforcement; and Professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen offered a comparison of intellectual property protection in China and Southeast Asia.

The day’s final panel, again moderated by Conrad Wong, considered the topic, “U.S./China Collaboration and Competition: The Indiana Perspective.” Discussants were Mark Cooper who talked about Indiana/China trade, and the intellectual property trade dynamic; Colin Renk, executive director of the America China Society of Indiana; and Professor Hamid Piroozi, ’06, who talked about technology licensing and deals.

The program concluded with remarks from Professor Nguyen,

In the photo from left are Conrad Wong, Yazhuo Qian, Professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Professor Xiaoming Li, and Qian ("Kelly") Sheng.