中国推进知识产权强国建设、优化知识产权法治环境的努力，无疑为企业知识产权法务提供了更广阔的施展空间。今年登上ALB榜单的15位知产法务来自不同行业，他们是企业知产策略的制定者、智慧资产的守护者，也是技术及商业创新不可或缺的推动者。

 

中国持续推进经济高质量转型，知识产权在其中扮演愈发重要的角色。2021年，中国颁布《知识产权强国建设纲要（2021-2035年）》和《“十四五”国家知识产权保护和运用规划》，为知识产权发展设定了明确的远期及近期目标。

年初，国务院发布了过去一年中国知识产权相关工作统计数据。2021年，中国发明专利有效量、有效商标注册量、受理PCT国际专利申请量等进一步增长。

中国市场主体创新创造能力不断增强。截至2021年底，国内企业拥有有效发明专利190.8万件，同比增长22.6%，其中高新技术企业拥有专利占比达63.6%，发明专利有效量增长最快的领域是信息技术管理方法、计算机技术和医疗技术。2020年，中国专利密集型产业对GDP增长的贡献率达到24.6%。

知识产权立法与政策领域也亮点频现。去年6月，新修改的《专利法》、《著作权法》正式实施；国家知识产权局继续完善了专利、商标审查标准，提高了审查效率；各级政府出台了一系列促进知识产权运用的举措，加速知识产权价值实现；各地深入落实知识产权全链条保护；通过加入新国际条约、参与多边知识产权组织等，中国也更为积极地参与到了知识产权全球治理中。

正是在上述诸般背景下，登上今年ALB 15强榜单的中国知识产权法务们以企业为舞台，从知识产权制度建设、发掘、产品研发、合规、争议解决等不同维度，有力推动了企业业务创新发展。

立法影响

如今在黄金时段的中国电视台节目中，常能看到一条公益广告的身影，广告词曰：“保护知识产权就是保护创新。”这从一个侧面体现了中国保护知识产权的决心，而这一努力的另一体现，就是为创新打造更有利的法治环境。

“《知产强国建设纲要》和 《‘十四五’知产保护和运用规划》给了我们很好的指引，告诉企业如何与国家战略对齐，做好知产战略规划。”美的集团高级知识产权顾问王明红首先指出了两个国家层面战略规划的重要性。她告诉ALB，正是依照规划方向，美的集团品牌管理和保护在过去一两年践行着由大到强、由量到质的转变，并进一步提升了知产竞争力，打造了美的Midea、COLMO、小天鹅LittleSwan、华凌WAHIN、威灵WELLING、美芝GMCC等多个知名品牌。

“近几年知识产权领域的立法进程加速、保护力度加大，作为IP人，立法和执法环境的不断完善是我们开展工作的最大推动力，同时，随着科技和经济的发展，新问题和新现象的不断产生，对IP人的理论功底和实务经验的要求也越来越高，IP人真是要学无止境。”欧姆龙（中国）有限公司技术知识产权中心企划部部长、知识产权部部长吕艳萍感慨道。她特别指出，例如去年实施的《企业名称登记管理规定》《著作权法》，以及今年1月1日实施的《商标一般违法判断标准》等，“不仅为权利人提供了更好的维权环境，也为我们的知识产权保护以及合规工作提供了明确的判断标准”。

王丹昕是金佰利（中国）有限公司亚太区知识产权法律顾问，谈到新法对工作的影响，他举例道，“在维权方面，新《专利法》和新《著作权法》都引入了惩罚性赔偿制度、举证妨碍制度，提高了法定赔偿的数额，增加了申请诉前财产保全、行为保全的可适用场景，增强了我们维权和保障自身合法权益的信心”。此外，《民法典》的重要性也不可忽视，例如其中对知产侵权惩罚性赔偿、无效技术合同类型、技术开发合同的各项规定，“都需要我们在日常工作中予以关注”。

关于新法的具体影响，他举了个例子：“新《专利法》将外观设计专利权的期限调整为15年，并规定了外观设计专利的国内优先权，以及引入了局部外观设计保护制度……我们在日常工作中，也可以考虑相应地制订外观设计专利申请策略；另外，由于局部外观设计的引入，我们今后在日常的专利侵权风险评估工作中也需要增加这方面的分析。”

吕艳萍则感受到了惩罚性赔偿制度对日常工作的影响。“去年最高法发布了《关于审理侵害知识产权民事案件适用惩罚性赔偿的解释》，明确了其适用范围、适用要件、计算方法等。作为权利人，我们可以根据司法解释的内容，行使权利时注意存证和取证，形成完整、清晰、全面的证据链，针对侵权行为进行有理有力的打击；同时自身公司进行产品研发时也做好防侵权检索和分析（FTO）工作，尊重他人的知识产权，防止触碰雷区，给企业带来不必要的损失。目前公司所有涉及研发的部门都导入了知识产权审查（IP Review）制度，随着这项制度的不断完善与充实，尊重知识产权的基础上全方位活用知识产权成为全体员工的共识，制度保障逐步落实到企划、研发、量产、上市的各个环节，从合同制定、商标设计、技术研发和专利申报、产品设计放行和侵权风险防范等多个角度全方位展开，所有相关环节必须经过知识产权部门的确认，并做好记录。”

李秋萍是广西柳工机械股份有限公司的法务高级经理，从自身工作内容出发，她尤其感受到了过去几年《商标法》及相关司法解释修订以来商标维权意识的提高，“大家更多从被动防御变为主动维权，更加关注商标背后的商誉价值，”她告诉ALB，“法务部的一项重点工作就是商标维权，我们对于市场上恶意复制、模仿柳工标识，借机扩大销售规模的不正当竞争行为采取主动出击……立法领域的变化为法务工作带来了新机遇，也对法务团队提出了更高要求。”

作为美的集团商版域工作的负责人，王明红对于商标领域立法变化的影响也深有感触。“《商标审查及审理标准》、《商标一般违法判断标准》、最高法惩罚性赔偿解释等一系列法规规范的出台，进一步规制商标注册行为，加大打击商标侵权力度、明确惩罚性赔偿适用，并提供了更便利、快速的纠纷解决机制。这些举措降低了权利人维权成本，提高维权成效，更好地保护了品牌，净化了市场。”她说。

“知识就是力量”

完备、良好的智慧资产管理制度是企业知识产权工作的基础，过去几年，大量在华企业开始重视并逐步完成这一制度的设立，知产法务在这个从“0”到“1”的飞跃中扮演着主导角色。

此外，愈发成熟的经济环境呼唤成熟的产品及商业模式，深度挖掘企业生产和运营环节中不可取代的知识财富因此也更加重要。在与业务实现良好互动，真正促进商业发展层面，今年上榜的知识产权法务成绩也十分亮眼。

金佰利的王丹昕告诉ALB，实际上知产法务工作的各个环节——无论是评估及管理知识产权风险，或是保护企业创新和知识资产，都有赖于“知产法务真正理解业务、产品、技术和商业模式，与研发、业务团队有效沟通与合作”，以实现及时识别、规避和管理企业运营中可能存在的风险点，或通过专利申请、商标注册、版权登记、商业秘密识别与分级管理等工作，形成有价值的知识产权资产组合。

此外，“必要时知产法务还应当基于业务需求，在可行性评估的基础上，主动采取包括诉讼在内的法律手段，推动实现既定的业务或商业目的。同时，知产法务还要对企业的对外技术、业务合作以及交易项目提供有效支持”，王丹昕说。

美的集团的王明红将知产法务和业务的互动分为政策和操作两个层面。“政策层面，知产法务要关注集团战略调整、经营管理政策、业务发展情况、产品创新情况等，例如美的集团当下的战略主轴为科技领先、用户直达、数智发展、全球突破，我们的知产保护、品牌保护策略就要与这些战略一致。”

而在操作层面，她提出了“紧贴业务、提前介入、全流程管理”几个关键概念。她告诉ALB，这需要知产法务与业务形成日常沟通机制，例如她会邀请业务同事参与商标申请，亲身感受商标申请全流程，这不仅能助益决策，还能让大家“互相了解，形成互相支持、彼此信任的生态”。

欧姆龙的吕艳萍则分享道，针对既有事业和新事业领域，知产法务提供的支持很不一样。“针对既有事业领域，知识产权战略更着重于权利运用，除了针对竞争对手，还要对客户进行技术以及知识产权宣传、在企业扩大现有市场以及产品时提供必要的知识产权战略协创，以及通过核心知识产权向世界传递欧姆龙的价值等。”

而在新事业领域，则“需要从事业顶层构想将来的客户价值和商业模式，从而勾画出前瞻性的知识产权布局。这需要知产布局和前期专利创出走在技术产品开发成果之前”。吕艳萍告诉ALB，欧姆龙正是通过知识产权战略与事业及技术战略的结合，加之不断总结中国商业模式特色，“完善着中国知识产权战略的制定”。

过去几年，借助美的集团海外业务的快速发展，王明红在海外知产布局方面积累了很多经验，在她看来，这更需要借助于对集团战略的把握，以及对业务、产品的深度熟知。

王明红告诉ALB，例如展开美的海外商标布局时，工作的基础就是充分了解业务需求：商标的定位、重要性、品类，所针对的国家或地区，产品大概上市时间、预算情况……一个细节都不能少，在此基础上再选取合适的布局策略。此外，好的海外知产布局还应该“想在业务前面”，例如通过重要品牌的多品类、多区域覆盖，从而实现前瞻性布局，为业务拓展做好准备；或提前布局新品牌或商标，“未雨绸缪，降低风险”。

王明红坦言，海外知产布局没有“成功模板”，吻合企业需求是检验是否合适的唯一标准。为此，她期待未来“专业与业务之间能够做到更好地协同，专业服务于业务需求，提供有效的解决方案”。

管理风险

支持企业商业行为之外，知识产权法务的工作还有不容忽视的另一面，即通过知产诉讼维护企业权益，缓释风险。

广西柳工的李秋萍告诉ALB，过去一年她带领知产团队在诉讼维权领域取得的成绩包括参与多宗涉及高额赔偿的柳工驰名商标维权诉讼，以及在公司历史上第一起商业秘密案中取得胜诉等。

“知识产权维权，无论是商业秘密还是商标维权，都能有效打击恶意经营者，保护知产权利人利益，提高企业的商誉价值，这本身就是对企业提供增值服务、体现法务的价值。”李秋萍坦言。她继而分享道，对于竞争者恶意模仿商标等侵权行为，法务部会在业务部门反馈后及时跟进、评估，确定维权策略。此外，她和团队也与外部知识产权代理机构保持密切合作，“根据他们对市场的检索、监控，以及提供的维权建议来采取相应措施”。

运用知产诉讼维护企业权益也是王丹昕工作的重要组成部分。谈到何为“好的知产诉讼策略”，他提出了一个判断标准：“应当能推动实现既定业务或商业目的的达成……包括有效地从源头上制止侵权行为、尽可能对企业因侵权行为而遭受的损失予以补偿。当然，在一些情况下，诉讼也可能是推动进行谈判的工具，还可能带有广告和公关的目的。”

王丹昕还特别指出，伴随惩罚性赔偿规定的强化以及实务中相关案例的探索，未来这将影响企业的知产诉讼策略。“为了更有效地打击侵权行为，对于经评估具备可能性的维权对象和案件，企业将通过尽力搜集侵权者‘明知故犯’、反复侵权等证据，以及侵权行为持续时间长、涉及地域广、涉及金额大等情节严重的证据，积极追求并努力促成惩罚性赔偿的适用。”他说。

展望未来

上述成绩之外，在知识产权合规、知产风险管理、推动知产立法发展、促进社会创新意识提升等方面，登上今年榜单的15位知识产权法务也有诸多建树，不一而足。

诚如美敦力公司高级总监、大中华区首席IP顾问曲晓阳所言：“法律工作复杂性只是挑战的一部分……（知产法务）工作的复杂性还来自跨文化、跨法域的相互沟通、相互理解、相互支持；来自如何打破平行部门之间的隔阂、协调行动，让公司利益最大化；最后，还来自如何成就他人，帮助下属快速成长，让他们的工作成就获得公司最高管理层的认可。”

广西柳工的李秋萍对此深有同感。“新时代对于知产法务要求逐步提高……法务需要更多地在业务前端发挥事前预防风险的价值，也要能为企业创造价值，逐步从成本中心转变为利润中心，这是法务需要持续努力实现的目标。”她说，“我认为优秀的知产法务除了具备基本的法务人员技能外，还需要具有创新思维，去推动企业知识产权的发展，让知识产权真正发挥价值，最大化地为企业创造财富。”

新时代提出的要求高，抛出的挑战也大。美的集团的王明红坦言，作为智能制造企业的知产法务，当下最大的挑战在于“如何做到与时俱进、与事俱近”：一方面，集团产品、商业模式日新月异，数字化、智能化转型加快，快速发展中的企业也不免面临复杂情形，这都需要知产法务“反应足够快，甚至要提前，配合集团转型、战略调整”提供保护；另一方面，随着企业全球突破的战略目标、产品不断出海，知产法务也要加快国际化脚步，充分学习了解当地法律，避免合规风险。

正是基于上述挑战，王明红表示2022年她及团队的工作重心之一即提升水平和能力构建，“完善企业知产制度体系流程建设与优化；善用工具做好布局和保护；跟进业务、持续学习、强化外部交流”。

在李秋萍看来，坚持将知产法务的各项工作做到一百分，就是对企业最为踏实及有效的支持。她告诉ALB，未来自己和团队将继续“对知识产权战略布局进行梳理，最大化保护企业权益；并持续对市场上恶意模仿公司商标标识的经营者进行有效打击”。此外，王丹昕还提到了展开公司内部知识产权相关培训的重要性。

“总的来说，知产法务要做好风险管控、产权布局、资产管理、战略指引。”王明红总结道，“要实现从被动灭火，到主动保护，再到扮演未雨绸缪、提前规划的驱动角色。”

欧姆龙的吕艳萍则从更长远的角度，分享了知产法务的使命和价值。“欧姆龙于1961年创建了健康研究中心，从家庭健康监测出发，实现了家庭、医院的共同管理，推进人类的健康，让健康不止于梦想。基于这个企业理念，我们认为，不仅要通过知识产权保护创新、建立竞争优势，将新技术的价值渗透到世界也尤为重要。”

吕艳萍举了个例子：1973年欧姆龙研发并生产了第一台无创手动加压式电子血压计，如今则在着手进行“夜间血压计”的开发。“除了开发产品的核心技术，家庭夜间血压测量的意义也需要向世界传达。专利的海外申请之外，我们也通过论文、参与医学界学会等方式向世界提倡新技术的价值，为地球上每一个人的健康生活做出贡献。”她说。

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2022 ALB China Top 15 IP In-House Counsel

China's efforts to develop itself into a country with strong intellectual property capabilities and to optimize its IP legal environment have undoubtedly created increasing challenges and opportunities for IP in-house counsel. Coming from different industries, the top 15 IP in-house counsel on this year's ALB list not only formulate corporate IP strategies and guard intellectual assets, but also are the indispensable force behind technological and business innovation.

 

Intellectual property plays an increasingly important role in China's continuous push to promote high-quality economic transformation. In 2021, the country promulgated the Outline for Building a Powerful Intellectual Property Nation (2021-2035) and the National Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization Plan for the "14th Five-Year Plan" Period, setting clear short and long-term goals for IP development.

At the beginning of the year, the State Council released data on China's IP-related work in 2021, which shows further increases in the numbers of valid invention patents, valid trademark registrations and PCT international patent applications accepted in China.

The innovative and creative capabilities of Chinese enterprises have also been continuously enhanced. As at the end of 2021, the number of valid invention patents owned by domestic enterprises has increased 22.6 percent year-on-year, of which high-tech enterprises account for 63.6 percent of patent ownership. The fields with the fastest growth in the number of valid invention patents are information technology management methods, computer technology and medical technology. In 2020, patent-intensive industries contributed 24.6 percent to China's GDP growth.

IP legislation and policies have also seen frequent developments. Last June, the newly revised Patent Law and Copyright Law formally came into effect. The China National Intellectual Property Administration continues to improve patent and trademark examination standards and raise examination efficiency. Governments at all levels have introduced a series of measures to promote the use of IPs. By joining new international treaties, China is also more actively involved in global IP governance.

It is against this backdrop that Chinese IP in-house counsel who made this year's list have vigorously promoted the innovative business development of their organizations from different angles such as developing IP strategies, IP exploration, product research and development, IP compliance and IP dispute resolution.

LEGISLATIVE INFLUENCE

Viewers of prime-time Chinese TV now often see a public service advertisement, which reads: "Protecting IP is protecting innovation," a reflection of China's resolve to protect IPs. This resolve is also manifested in the country's efforts to create a more favorable legal environment for innovation.

"The Outline for Developing China into a Nation with Strong Intellectual Property Capacity and the Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Intellectual Property during the "14th Five-year Plan Period" provide helpful guidance to enterprises on how to plan their IP strategies in alignment with national strategies." Sally Wang, executive IP counsel of Midea Group, points out the significance of these two national-level strategic plans. According to her, Midea Group's brand management and protection work has transformed from being large in size to strong in capacity and from being focusing on quantity to focusing on quality in the past two years in line with the directions of these plans, and Midea Group has further sharpened its IP competitiveness, creating many well-known brands such as Midea, COLMO, LittleSwan, WAHIN, WELLING and GMCC.

"With the accelerating IP legislative process and increasing IP protection efforts in recent years, IP professionals have drawn huge inspiration from the continuous improvement of the legislative and law enforcement environment. At the same time, technological and economic developments have led to the continuous emergence of new problems and phenomena, raising the bar on the theoretical foundation and practical experience of IP professionals. We genuinely need to keep learning." Comments Lu Yanping, manager of OMRON (CHINA) CO., LTD.’s intellectual property department and planning department of its technology & intellectual property center. For example, the Administrative Provisions on Enterprise Name Registration and the Copyright Law that came into effect last year, and the Standards for Judging General Trademark Violations that took effect on January 1 this year have provided "not only a better environment for right holders to safeguard their rights, but also a set of clear criteria for IP protection and compliance work", says Lu.

Speaking of the impact of new legislation on his work, Bruce Wang, Kimberly Clark (China) Co., Ltd.'s APAC IP legal counsel, gives the following example. "In terms of protecting rights, the new Patent Law and the new Copyright Law have both introduced rules on punitive damages and obstruction of the production of evidence, increased the amount of statutory compensation, and added new scenarios to which pre-litigation property preservation and behavior preservation are applicable, which serves to enhance our confidence in safeguarding rights and protecting our own legitimate interests." In addition, the importance of the Civil Code cannot be ignored. For example, the provisions of the Civil Code on punitive damages against IP infringements, types of invalid technology contracts and technology development contracts "all require our attention during work".

In terms of the concrete impact of new legislation, "the new Patent Law has adjusted the term of a design patent to 15 years, stipulated domestic priority of design patents, and introduced partial design protection... As such, we can also consider formulating corresponding design patent application strategies in our work. In addition, with the introduction of partial design, we also need to add a new aspect of analysis in our patent infringement risk assessment going forward." Says Bruce Wang.

Lu has also felt the impact of punitive damages rules on her daily work. "Last year, the Supreme People's Court issued the Interpretations on the Application of Punitive Damages in the Hearing of Civil Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement which clarifies the scope of application of punitive damages, the circumstances under which they are applicable, and the methods to calculate such damages. As right holders, we can focus on safekeeping and collecting evidence when exercising our rights according to the Judicial Interpretations so as to form a complete, clear and comprehensive evidence chain to mount reasoned and powerful attacks against infringements. At the same time, when conducting product R&D, we also need to properly perform Freedom-to-Operate analysis so that we respect the IPs of others, avoid minefields and prevent unnecessary losses to the company. At present, all our departments involved in R&D have introduced the IP review system. With the continuous improvement of this system, it has become the consensus of all employees that IPs should be fully and creatively utilized on the basis that they are respected in the first place. The system has also been gradually implemented in all stages of planning, R&D, mass production and go-to-market, covering a whole suite of functions such as contract execution, trademark design, technology R&D and patent application, product design clearance and infringement risk prevention. All relevant aspects must be confirmed by the IP department and be properly documented."

As senior legal manager of Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd., Liu Qiuping has witnessed first-hand the improvement of trademark protection awareness since the revision of the Trademark Law and relevant judicial interpretations in the past few years. "Everyone has changed from being passively defensive to proactively protective, and more attention has been paid to the goodwill value behind trademarks," says Li. "One of the key tasks of the legal department is to protect trademarks. We proactively fight against unfair competition activities on the market, such as those of maliciously copying and imitating Liugong's logo to increase sales... Legislative changes have brought new opportunities to in-house counsel and put forward higher requirements on the in-house team."

As head of the trademark, copyright and domain name work of Midea Group, Sally Wang is also deeply immersed in the impact of legislative changes in the trademark field. "The promulgation of the Standards for Trademark Examination and Hearing, the Standards for Judging General Trademark Violations, interpretations of the Supreme People's Court on punitive damages and other regulations and standards have further standardized trademark registration, intensified efforts to fight against trademark infringement, clarified the application of punitive damages, and provided a more convenient and expeditious dispute resolution mechanism. These measures have lowered the cost of right holders to safeguard their rights, improved the effectiveness of rights protection, and better protected brands and cleansed the market."

"KNOWLEDGE IS POWER"

A sound and robust intellectual asset mining and management system is the foundation of corporate IP work. In the past few years, a large number of enterprises in China have begun to attach importance to, and gradually build up, this system, and IP in-house counsel play a leading role in this leap.

Meanwhile, the increasingly mature economic environment calls for mature products and business models. It is thus increasingly important to tap the irreplaceable knowledge wealth in the production and operational links of enterprises. IP in-house counsel on the list are also outstanding in supporting business development to better accommodate the changing marketplace.

According to Bruce Wang of Kimberly Clark (China) Co., Ltd., all areas of the work of an IP in-house counsel, be it the assessment and management of IP risks or the protection of the company's innovation and intellectual assets, depend on the "IP in-house counsel truly understanding business, products, technology and business models, and effectively communicating and cooperating with R&D and business teams". In this way, IP in-house counsel can promptly identify, avoid and manage potential risks during enterprise operation, or generate valuable IP asset portfolios through patent application, trademark registration, copyright registration, trade secret identification and classified management, etc.

In addition, "where necessary and based on business needs and feasibility assessment, IP in-house counsel should also proactively take legal means, including litigation, to facilitate the realization of established business or commercial goals. Meanwhile, they must also provide effective support for the company's external technology and business cooperation and as well as deals".

Sally Wang of Midea Group sees the interaction between the IP in-house counsel and business units at two levels: policy and operation. "At the policy level, the IP in-house counsel should pay attention to the group's strategic adjustment, operational and management policies, business development and product innovation. For example, Midea Group's current core strategic objectives are product leadership, to be efficiently driven and global operation. Accordingly, our IP protection and brand protection strategies should be aligned with these strategic goals."

At the operational level, she has put forward key concepts of "close to business, early intervention and whole-process management". According to her, this requires a daily communication mechanism to be established between the IP in-house counsel and business units. For example, she invites business unit colleagues to participate in trademark application so that they can have first-hand experience of the entire trademark application process, which not only helps decision-making, but also enables everyone to "understand, support and trust each other".

Lu Yanping of OMRON (CHINA) CO., LTD. draws a distinction between the support provided by the IP in-house counsel for existing and new business areas. "For existing business areas, our IP strategies focus more on the use of rights. In addition to targeting competitors, we also need to promote the knowledge of technology and IP rights to clients, provide necessary IP strategy coordination and formulation when the company expands existing markets and product lines, and showcase OMRON's value to the world through core IPs."

When it comes to new business areas, "the IP in-house counsel need to conceive future client value and business models from the top, so as to outline a forward-looking IP layout. This requires IP layout and early-stage IP creation to be ahead of the outputs of technological development". Lu tells ALB that OMRON is "continuously improving its China IP strategies" by combining IP strategies and business and technology strategies, as well as constantly summarizing the characteristics of business models in China.

In the past few years, the rapid development of Midea Group's overseas business has enabled Sally Wang to accumulate rich experience in the layout of IPs overseas. In her opinion, this requires the IP in-house counsel to have a better grasp of the group's strategies and have in-depth knowledge of its business and products.

For example, when planning the overseas trademark presence of Midea Group, the IP in-house counsel must have a sufficient understanding of business needs, ranging from the positioning, importance and categories of trademarks, the targeted countries or regions, to the estimated go-to-market time and budget, before he or she can decide on the appropriate layout strategy. In addition, a robust overseas IP layout should also be "ahead of business". For example, the IP in-house counsel should strive for a forward-looking layout that is geared for business expansion through multi-categorization and multi-regional coverage of important brands, or should plan for new brands or trademarks in advance so as to "reduce risks".

To Sally Wang, there is no "foolproof template" for overseas IP layouts, and matching the needs of the company is the sole test of whether the layout is appropriate. To this end, she hopes for "better collaboration between the IP in-house department and business units in the future, so that the former can provide effective solutions to serve the latter".

RISK MANAGEMENT

Apart from supporting the business activities of their organizations, IP in-house counsel have another indispensable area of work, which is to safeguard the rights and interests of their organizations and mitigate risks through IP litigation.

Li Qiuping of Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. tells ALB that the IP in-house team she leads has participated in a number of lawsuits for protecting well-known trademarks that involve huge amounts of compensation in the past year, and has won the first ever trade secret lawsuit in the company's history.

"Protecting IPs, whether trade secrets or trademarks, can effectively crack down on malicious business operators, protect the interests of IP holders and increase the goodwill value of the company. This in itself adds value to the company and reflects the importance of the in-house counsel." Says Li. In terms of competitors who maliciously imitate trademarks and commit other infringing acts, the in-house department will promptly follow up and evaluate the feedback of business units to decide on the rights protection strategy. In addition, she and her team also maintain close partnership with external IP agencies and "take corresponding measures according to the market search and monitoring of these agencies and their suggestions for rights protection".

Using IP litigation to safeguard the rights and interests of his company is also an important part of Bruce Wang's work. He believes that a "good IP litigation strategy should be able to promote the achievement of established business or commercial goals..., including effectively stopping infringing acts from their sources and maximizing compensation for the losses suffered by the company due to infringement. Certainly, in some cases, litigation may also be used as a tool to advance negotiation, and may even have advertising and public relations benefits."

In particular, he points out that the reinforcement of punitive damages provisions and the exploration of relevant cases in practice will affect the IP litigation strategies of enterprises in the future. "To more effectively crack down on infringement, with regard to infringers and cases that are assessed to be worth pursuing, the company should try its best to collect evidence to show that the infringers have knowingly committed the infringements or have committed repeated infringements, as well as evidence proving grave circumstances such as an infringement having lasted a long time, covering a wide geographical area and involving a large amount of money, so as to actively pursue and successfully secure the application of punitive damages rules."

LOOKING AHEAD

In addition to the above achievements, the top 15 IP in-house counsel on this year's list have also made great strides in IP compliance, IP risk management, promoting the development of IP legislation and the improvement of public innovation awareness, to name a few.

As Qu of Medtronic PLC puts it, "the complexity of legal work is only one part of the challenge... The complexity of (in-house IP) work also comes from cross-cultural and cross-jurisdictional communication, mutual understanding, and mutual support. It is about how to address the silo between parallel departments and coordinate actions to maximize interest for the company. Finally, it also involves how to help subordinates develop and improve quickly so that their work is recognized by the company’s top management.”

Li Qiuping of Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. shares the same sentiment. "The bar has gradually raised for IP in-house counsel in the new era... In-house counsel need to show more value of ex ante risk prevention in the early stages of business and to create value for their organizations, so as to gradually shift from being a cost center to a profit center. This is the goal that in-house counsels should continuously strive to achieve. I think in addition to basic skills, top in-house counsel must be able to think in an innovative way to promote the IP development of their companies, so as to give full play to the value of IPs and maximize wealth for enterprises."

Apart from higher requirements, challenges are also greater in this new age. Sally Wang of Midea Group shares frankly that as the IP in-house counsel for a smart manufacturer, the biggest challenge now lies in "how to keep up with the times and remain close to products". On the one hand, the group's products and business models are changing with each passing day, digital and smart transformation is gathering pace, and the rapidly-transforming enterprise is inevitably facing complex situations, all of which require IP in-house counsels to "respond swiftly or even preemptively, and cooperate with the group's transformation and strategic adjustment to provide protection". On the other hand, with the group's strategic objectives of global operation and its products constantly shipping overseas, IP in-house counsel must also accelerate the pace of internationalization, and thoroughly study and understand local laws to avoid compliance risks.

Given the above challenges, Sally Wang has set capacity building as one of the priorities of her and her team in 2022, which includes "improving the construction and optimization of the group's IP system and process, making good use of tools to ensure proper IP layout and protection, and keeping pace with business development, continuing to learn and stepping up external exchange".

In Li Qiuping's view, achieving a perfect score for all the essential work of IP in-house counsel is the most solid and effective support they can give their companies. Going forward, she and her team will continue to "rationalize the strategic IP layout, maximize the protection of the company's rights and interests, and effectively crack down on business operators who maliciously imitate the company's trademarks on the market". In addition, Bruce Wang also mentions the importance of internal IP-related training.

"In general, IP in-house counsel should be effective at risk management and control, property right layout, asset management and strategic guidance. They should shift from passively putting out fire to actively providing protection, and then to thinking and planning in advance." Summarizes Sally Wang.

Lu Yanping of OMRON (CHINA) CO., LTD. shares her views on the mission and value of IP in-house counsel from a longer-term perspective. "OMRON founded the health research center in 1961 which, from the starting point of family health monitoring, realized the joint management of health by families and hospitals, promoted the health of the mankind and made health more than just a dream. With this corporate philosophy in mind, we believe it is particularly important to rely on IPs to let the value of new technologies reach all parts of the world, in addition to protecting innovation and establishing competitive edges."

Lu gives an example: in 1973, OMRON developed and manufactured the first non-invasive manual pressurized electronic sphygmomanometer, and it is now working on the development of a "night-time sphygmomanometer". "In addition to developing the core technology of the product, the significance of night-time blood pressure measurement at home also needs to be conveyed to the world. Apart from applying for patents overseas, we also promote the value of new technologies globally through writing papers and participating in medical societies, in the hope of contributing to the health of everyone on earth."

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