Tongji University – located in East China's Shanghai – held a seminar on Dec 22 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its intellectual property or IP course, which is widely said to have achieved outstanding results over the two decades in a raft of important fields.

Zheng Qinghua, president of Tongji University, thanked the leaders and experts who supported it and the Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property, or SICIP – adding that the university would further enhance its talent team and become a world-class IP platform.

Francis Gurry, former director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO, sent his congratulations in an online message and praised Tongji University for its recognition of the importance and relevance of IP to Shanghai and China's wider economic development – as well as its aspiration to become an international center of excellence for IP.

Rui Wenbiao, director general of Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, speaks at the seminar. [Photo/WeChat account: Shanghai_IPA]

The seminar was told by Rui Wenbiao, director general of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration, that his body would support the SICIP to become a top-level IP talent training and think tank platform – based on the new memorandum of understanding between the Shanghai government and WIPO.

Tongji University established its IP institute in March 2003. In November 2016 – with the support of WIPO and the China National Intellectual Property Administration – Shanghai's municipal government set up SICIP based on the university's IP institute, aiming to build a world-class IP institute with Chinese characteristics.