At the invitation of prof. Christophe Geiger, director of the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) in France, prof. Yu Xiang, director of the Chinese-German Institute of Intellectual Property, attended the international conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of CEIPI at the headquarters building of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on November 27th - 28th. The theme of this conference is “Perspectives for the Intellectual Property System in a Globalized World”.

　　In the afternoon of November 28th , Prof. Yu gave a conference presentation named “Development of Chinese Patent System � From the International Perspective”. Other speakers in the same group with prof. Yu were as below: Prof. Lionel Bently, director of the Center for Intellectual Property and Information Law (CIPIL) at University of Cambridge in England; Dr. Francis Gurry, the 4th Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); Prof. Graeme Dinwoodie, director of Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law at the University of Oxford; Prof. Dan Burk, chancellor’s professor of law at University of CaliforniaŸIrvine; Dr. Antony Taubman, director of Intellectual Property Division in World Trade Organization(WTO); Dr. Pedro Roffe, senior associate at International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development(ICTSD).

　　At the very beginning of the conference， Mrs. Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, delivered a welcome speech. Prof. Alain Beretz (president of the Université de Strasbourg) and prof. Chistophe Geiger (director of CEIPI) introduced the history of CEIPI briefly in turn. Other speakers who also delivered conference presentations included Dr. Benoit Battistelli, president of EPO; Dr. Antonio Campinos, present chairman of the Council of CEIPI, chairman of the Administrative Board of the Office for Harmonization in OHIM and the head of the Portuguese Delegation at the Administrative Council of EPO; Prof. Josef Drexl, director of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law in Munich; Prof. Robin Jacob, the first Sir Hugh Laddie Chair in Intellectual Property (IP) Law and director of the Institute of Brand and Innovation Law(IBIL) at University College London(UCL), retired Lord Justice of Appeal of England and Wales; Dr. Thierry Sueur, vice president of IP and vice president of European and international affairs at Air Liquide in France.

　　Roland Ries, the mayor of Strasbourg and the first President of the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict’s Council, hosted the welcome dinner on 27th November. The event was attended by nearly three hundred participants, experts and prominent names from academia, IP organizations, legal firms, IP consulting and IP managers of major companies.

　　Related links: www.ceipi.edu