On the afternoon of June 15, 2023, Deputy Director Xu Zhijiang of the Patent Office of the National Intellectual Property Administration led a delegation from the Mainland, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Macau Special Administrative Region Intellectual Property Seminar to visit the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center at M.U.S.T. Faculty of Law. Deputy Director Chan Tze Wai of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau of the Macau SAR Government accompanied the visit. Professor Fang Quan, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Director of the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center, Professor Wu Handong, Distinguished Professor of the Faculty of Law and Honorary Director of the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center, Associate Professor Yi Zaicheng, and Assistant Professor Liao Si attended the reception.
Group photo of the visiting delegation
Dean Fang Quan warmly welcomed the delegation and expressed his gratitude for their visit to M.U.S.T. He emphasized that Secretary General Xi's reply was a great encouragement to all faculty and students at M.U.S.T., and the Faculty of Law is committed to nurturing interdisciplinary legal professionals who love their country and Macau. As a key overseas research base for humanities and social sciences designated by the Ministry of Education, the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center has actively participated in the construction of intellectual property rule of law in the Greater Bay Area, dedicated to providing legal safeguards for technological innovation and knowledge transfer in the region. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Intellectual Property Legal Alliance, initiated by the center, has become one of the most influential think tank platforms in the Greater Bay Area. Dean Fang expressed her hope for deeper cooperation and exchanges with the National Intellectual Property Administration and local bureaus of the Pan-Pearl River Delta region in talent cultivation, theoretical research, and institutional innovation.
(From left to right: Honorary Director Wu Handong, Dean Fang Quan, Deputy Director Chan Tze Wai)
Deputy Director Xu Zhijiang expressed his appreciation for the reception by the Macau University of Science and Technology and fully acknowledged the development of the Faculty of Law and the work of the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center. In response to Dean Fang's expressed willingness to strengthen cooperation in the future, he stated that this visit marks the beginning of exchanges between the National Intellectual Property Administration, local bureaus, and the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center at M.U.S.T. He pledged to actively promote exchanges and cooperation between the National Intellectual Property Administration, local bureaus, and the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center, leveraging the center's role as a key research base designated by the Ministry of Education in the construction of intellectual property rule of law in the Greater Bay Area.
Deputy Director Xu Zhijiang of the Patent Office, National Intellectual Property Administration
Center's Honorary Director, Professor Wu Handong, introduced the three major advantages of M.U.S.T. in terms of policies, environment, and disciplines to the visiting delegation. He stated that the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center had a strong start and had achieved remarkable results despite being relatively new. The membership of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Intellectual Property Legal Alliance includes renowned universities, research institutions, service platforms, and notable internet companies in the Greater Bay Area. As the chairing unit of the alliance, the Faculty of Law at M.U.S.T. holds significant influence. Professor Wu Handong expressed his expectation for support from the National Intellectual Property Administration for the development of the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center and emphasized the importance of strengthening exchanges and cooperation with local intellectual property bureaus.
Honorary Director, Professor Wu Handong
Associate Professor Yi Zaicheng from the Faculty of Law introduced the overview of the Macau Intellectual Property Research Center and the basic situation and recent developments of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Intellectual Property Legal Alliance (IPLAG), which was initiated by the center.
Dean Fang Quan (left) presents a souvenir to Deputy Director Xu Zhijiang (right)
The visiting delegation also included Mr. Wang Derong, the head and representative of the Intellectual Property Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, as well as representatives from intellectual property bureaus in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, including Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Yunnan, and others, totaling more than forty people.
The Macau Intellectual Property Research Center is a partner research base of the Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Intellectual Property Research Center of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. It was established in Macau in 2017 with the approval of the Ministry of Education. On April 16, 2018, Minister Chen Baosheng of the Ministry of Education personally visited the Macau University of Science and Technology to witness the establishment of the center. After its establishment, the center was jointly built by the Macau University of Science and Technology and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, with the Faculty of Law at the Macau University of Science and Technology responsible for its daily work and management. The center is rooted in Macau, collaborates with the mainland, connects China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and faces the international community. It aims to integrate the advantageous resources of the Macau University of Science and Technology and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, leveraging Macau's role as a place of cultural fusion between the East and the West, a platform for commercial cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, a significant node in the Belt and Road Initiative, and a central city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. The goal is to develop the Macau Intellectual Property Center into a well-known academic institution and think tank in the cross-strait and Hong Kong-Macau region, Portuguese-speaking countries, and even internationally.
