International Trade Lawmaking @ Beijing Normal University

Beijing Normal University Global Development Strategic Partnership Project

外国专家讲座 第五讲

Foreign Expert Virtual Lecture Series Lecture 5

Gauging Patent Impacts on Post-Pandemic World Trade

In Memory of 2022 UNCITRAL Asia and the Pacific Day

日期：2022年11月21，UTC +8:00 18:00-21:00

Zoom Virtual Conference System

主持人: Prof. Hong Xue, Beijing Normal University

主讲人: Madam Wu Xiaoping，Counselor in the Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division of the World Trade Organization

Topic: Innovation and Patenting Activities of COVID-19 Vaccines in WTO Members: Analytical Review of Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) COVID-19 Vaccines Patent Landscape (VaxPaL)

At the beginning, Prof. Xue introduced the close collaboration with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), which was established under the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2205 (XXI) of 17 December 1966 and has been the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. The UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RCAP) launched from 2014 the UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Day (AP Day) academic series to promote awareness of international trade standards and norms, particularly those endorsed by UNCITRAL, among law students. The UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Day is an annual flagship academic series. In 2021, an initial 34 universities and institutions across the Asia-Pacific region in 13 jurisdictions have joined the annual celebration by co-hosting a series of academic events with UNCITRAL RCAP.

2022 marks a very special occasion as RCAP celebrates its 10th anniversary. The main theme of the UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Day 2022 is “RCAP@10: The Next 10 Years of Legal Harmonization in the Region”. Prof. Xue elaborated that world trade, including IP trade, is being affected the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccination is the most powerful tool to safeguard public health and trade environment.

Mrs. Wu was invited as an IP expert and giving the Lecture in her personal capacity for educational purpose only. Mrs. Xiaoping Wu is Counsellor in the Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 2006. She undertakes work in the area of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), with a focus on patent-related policy issues and review of WTO Members’ national intellectual property legislation. She also takes part in WTO technical assistance and capacity building programs on intellectual property and TRIPS to developing counties.

Mrs. Wu presented a WTO on-going research project to analyze and review COVID-19 vaccine patent landscape. The research provides a statistical analysis of 74 patent families which cover subject matter relevant to ten COVID-19 vaccines. These vaccines have accounted for 99% of the global COVID-19 vaccine production as of 31 December 2021, comprising over ten billion doses. Eight of them have been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for inclusion in its Emergency Use Listing (EUL). The analysis is based on a COVID-19 vaccines patent database developed by the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). Through the detailed examination of patent applicants, filing dates, and offices of first and subsequent filing, the paper identifies patterns and trends of innovation and patenting activities of COVID-19 vaccines in WTO Members, and presents the legal status of the 74 patent families in 105 jurisdictions. The research provides the useful background information for policymakers on the significance and potential impact of these patent families with relevance to the access to and production of these vaccines in their individual countries. The research aims to support evidence-based assessments regarding potential options within and beyond the current TRIPS framework to promote equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

More than 20 BNU LLM, JM and PhD students from China, France, Italy, Russia, Congo and Uganda joined the Virtual Lecture and raised many questions to the Lecturers. The officers from UNCITRAL and RCAP also joined the Lecture virtually from Vienna and Incheon. The Lecture that enriched the participants’ understanding on the COVID-19 vaccine patent global distribution and legal impacts hailed as huge success.

2022年11月21日北京师范大学全球发展战略合作伙伴项目外国专家网络讲座第五讲在隆重举行，由薛虹教授主持。

薛教授首先介绍了与UNCITRAL的密切的合作关系及联合国国际贸易法委员会（UNCITRAL）亚太日20周年纪念活动，并邀请在世贸组织知识产权、政府采购与竞争部门工作的吴小平女士作客座演讲。吴女士系以个人身份为教育目的进行的演讲。

吴女士介绍了世贸组织今年早些时候基于MPP之COVID-19疫苗专利数据库进行的专项研究。该研究分析了10种针对COVID-19的疫苗涉及的74个专利族、开发所用的四种技术平台以及它们的全球生产现状，描述了与10种COVID-19疫苗相关的创新和专利活动的模式和趋势，包括专利申请人、申请日、受理首次申请及后续申请的专利局，并以图表的形式进行了清晰的呈现。本次研究的目的是在复杂的专利数据中得出与法律和技术有关的信息，为政策制定者提供有用的背景资料，说明这些专利族对各个国家获得和生产这些疫苗的重要性和潜在影响，将有助于对当前《与贸易有关的知识产权协定》的框架的备选方案进行实际评估，以促进公平获得针对COVID-19的疫苗。

来自中国、法国、意大利、俄罗斯、乌干达、刚果的中国法硕士项目研究生、法学硕士研究生、法律硕士研究生、法学博士研究生20余人参加了网络讲座，并与主讲教授进行了长时间的生动交流互动。UNCITRAL及RCAP的官员从维也纳与仁川网络参加了讲座。通过此次的专题讲座活动，我校法学院师生对与新冠肺炎疫苗有关的专利全球分布及其法律影响有了进一步的认识，这次活动的成功举办收获了师生的一致好评。

On 3 November 2022, Asia Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center (ADNDRC), along with China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, organized the Webninar “ADNDRC @ 20: DNDR in the Digital Economy”. HKIAC, ICANN and CNNIC, etc. were the supporting organizations.

Prof. Xue gave a keynote speech on Rejuvenation of ADR in Digital Economy. She raised that ADR should be reinterpreted from the original meaning, making it Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted smart dispute resolution to fit the need of digital economy. In her keynote speech, Prof. Xue said the ADR coverage and scope of proceedings have been augmented in the new laws like EU DSM Directive or Digital Service Act, automated procedural management will entirely replace human to create more efficient proceedings, and autonomous discovery could be widely adopted to assist the adjudicator to make more precise and solid decisions. In Prof. Xue’s belief, the AI-enabled, augmented and automated disputed resolution would become the mainstream dispute resolution in digital economy. More than 530,000 audience from 41 countries watched the Webinar.

2022年11月3日，亚洲域名争议解决中心（ADNDRC）以“纪念亚洲域名争议解决中心成立20周年——数字经济时代的域名争议解决”为主题的年会成功在线举办。本次会议由亚域中心和中国国际经济贸易仲裁委员会（CIETAC）共同主办，香港国际仲裁中心（HKIAC）、韩国互联网址争议解决委员会（IDRC）、亚洲国际仲裁中心（AIAC）作为联合主办机构，支持机构包括互联网名称与数字地址分配机构（ICANN）、中国互联网络信息中心（CNNIC）和中国信息通信研究院（CAICT）。

“数字经济的网上知识产权保护”议题由贸仲知识产权争议解决处处长杨帆主持。亚域中心域名专家、北京师范大学法学院教授、商务部电子商务专家薛虹以“数字经济背景下多元争议解决机制的复兴”为题，就人工智能在非讼争议解决中发挥的巨大作用作了主题发言，提出重新理解ADR的含义与内容，为数字经济争议解决开辟新局面。北京互联网法院综合审判三庭副庭长颜君、广州物联网研究院院长王伟分别以“数字经济时代的新挑战与司法应对——北京互联网法院的司法实践”以及“WEB3.0时代数字资产与域名业务的融合思考”为主题作了精彩分享。会议全程网络直播，据统计，共有41个国家和地区53万余人次在线观看了本次会议，其中海外观看人数占比近40%。

Reforming Intellectual Property brings together 19 of the world’s leading scholars in the field to offer their unique insight into the future of intellectual property. Providing a diverse array of perspectives on the most pressing reforms needed in the current IP regime, whether in terms of legislation at national and international levels, or interpretation of existing law, this exceptional book highlights the key issues in this area and sets out an agenda for future research and policy. Prof. Xue’s wrote the Chapter on “Copyright on digital platforms: shifting paradigms” and explored the new trends of copyright protection measures with the evolution of digital economy.

2022年5月17日下午，由中国互联网协会、中国文字著作权协会指导，互联网实验室、浙江大学传媒与国际文化学院、浙江理工大学网络法研究所等单位主办的知网案解析与全面治理之道专家研讨会（数字论坛第231期）顺利举行。全国10余位专家学者围绕“知网案解析与全面治理之道”的主题进行了深入研讨。

薛虹教授受邀作主题发言，观点发表于《长江日报》2022年5月18日。

薛教授谈到，市场监管总局发布对知网进行反垄断调查的决定后，我感兴趣的是知网对于调查决定的反应。知网表示，拥抱监管，坚决支持，以此为契机来进行反思和整改。所以我就此也思考了一下，这究竟是谁的契机？知网要以此为契机是什么意思？他要以此为契机是不是想要以反垄断来掩盖他其他的更为严重的违法行为。著作权侵权与行政违法的帐应该是一笔一笔的算，反垄断解决不了它整个商业模式本身存在的巨大问题。

既然前面几位专家都纷纷提到了刑事责任的问题，我专门研究了此问题。根据《刑法》及相关“两高”解释，侵犯著作权犯罪构成有四项：第一项，盈利为目的，知网是彻头彻尾的盈利行为；第二项，未经著作权人许可，知网上至少有50%以上的作品是绝对的无许可、零许可，还有一些是非自愿的许可，例如学位论文；第三项，复制发行包括文字作品在内的著作权作品，“两高”解释复制发行包括在互联网上信息传播；第四项，违法所得数额较大或有其他严重情节。事实上，违法所得数额三万元以上，或者非法经营数额五万元以上，已经达到了侵犯著作权罪的立案标准。根据“两高”对解释，非法经营数额在五万元以上，或者传播他人作品的数量合计在五百件(部)以上，或者传播他人作品的实际被点击数达到五万次以上，或者以会员制方式传播他人作品，注册会员达到一千人以上，属于侵犯著作权罪规定的其他严重情节。知网经营额、获利额、涉及的作品数量与网络点击率，与上述立案、定罪的标准相比，完全不在同一数量级。知网即便对中国学术界有正面的作用，其对著作权法治的破坏与负面影响也超过其正面的价值。我还注意到，对于侵犯著作权犯罪，“两高”特别规定，在涉案作品种类众多且权利人分散的案件中，“未经著作权人许可”的证据确实难以一一取得，但出版者、复制发行者不能提供获得著作权人许可的相关证明材料的，可以认定为“未经著作权人许可”。因此，知网的案情虽然极为复杂，但处理刑事案件并不存在举证上不可逾越的障碍。

最后，我想回应一下关于知网的未来。方案一，修改著作权法，给知网类的使用增加一项法定许可。要这样的话，有了法定许可，不需要征得著作权人的同意。但是问题是，法律不溯及既往，并不能解决知网在先的著作权人侵权问题。方案二，知网成为依法按照公务性使用作品的国家机构，属于合理使用。但恐怕会在权利类型当中产生不均衡。因为对文字作品实行了大量国有化征收，其他类型的作品为什么没有遭受这样的待遇呢？方案三，期刊论文的开放许可或开放访问（Open Access）。我非常赞同，我也认为这是一个前途，是一个未来的发展方向。但是请注意，开放许可的前提是著作权人自愿。只有著作权人自愿放弃全部或一部分权利（复制发行网络传播），才有实行的可能。为了公众公共利益，很多著作权人愿意奉献其作品，但问题是为什么要把自己的作品奉献给知网呢？它的名声存疑。我们愿意把它奉献给国家一个正式的机构、一个项目，或者至少许可真正国家的非营利的项目来使用。奉献给知网，不知多少作者会同意？上述三个方案实施难度都非常大。而且，知网改革的前提是先清算其应负的法律责任。我认为，知网身的存在就是一个问题，它的改造与未来，恐怕需要国家慎重的评估与处理。

总之，知网遭受反垄断调查仅仅是冰山一角，反垄断解决不了它建立在著作权侵权基础上的整个商业模式本身存在的巨大问题。知网未经著作权人许可，以盈利为目的，长时间、超大规模复制发行网络传播文字作品，违法所得数额巨大且有其他严重情节，很可能涉嫌侵犯著作权犯罪。知网（全称China National Know Infrastructure）如真正有意为中国学术的数字化作出贡献，就应当依法经营，名副其实履行国家知识信息基础设施的义务与责任。

ADNDRC provides comprehensive online dispute resolution services for resolving domain name disputes including those arising out of gTLDs, new gTLDs and certain ccTLDs. It has been a dispute resolution service provider accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) since 2002 and provides services under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Based on two decades of experience, the ADNDRC Pratice Development Workshop on April 26-27, 2022 aimed to provide best practice guidelines, tips on addressing procedural issues and the latest case updates relating to complex domain name dispute resolution decisions. It was an opportunity for the ADNDRC’s panelist to engage with the ADNDRC team.

As one of the founding ADNDRC Panelist since 2002, Prof. Xue was invited to join the Workshop and discussed the various practical issues with the colleagues from Asia, Pacific, Europe, North America and Latin America. Prof. Xue especially addressed the uniqueness of the CNDRP in the framework of domain name dispute resolution system.