The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center signs up to work with the Fujian High People's Court. [Photo/Fujian High People's Court]

The Geneva-based Arbitration and Mediation Center of the World Intellectual Property Organization recently signed up to work with a top court in East China's Fujian province.

The center on Dec 28 signed the Agreement Concerning Cooperation on Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Area of Intellectual Property, or IP, with the Fujian High People's Court.

WIPO Deputy Director General Wang Binying participated in the signing ceremony via video and delivered a congratulatory letter from WIPO. The on-site signing ceremony was held at the court in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian. 

Wang said that WIPO was the United Nations specialist agency responsible for IP development and protection. As such, it was committed to leading the development of an effective global IP ecosystem that was inclusive of all parties, to foster innovation and creativity for a better and more sustainable future.

That cooperation would provide a new way for enterprises in Fujian and other regions to resolve foreign-related IP disputes, Wang added.

He Rong, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, attended the on-site ceremony. He said that in recent years, Chinese courts had intensified their efforts in the judicial protection of IP rights and had conducted in-depth international exchanges and cooperation with WIPO.

The scope, intensity, effect and international influence of IP judicial protection had been continuously enhanced, He added.

Erik Wilbers, director of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, signed the cooperation agreement online and Ignacio de Castro, its director of the IP Disputes and External Relations Division, delivered an online keynote speech on WIPO's alternative dispute resolution services.

Lv Guoqiang, head of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Shanghai Service, also attended the on-site signing ceremony.