International Trade Lawmaking @ Beijing Normal University

中国法学会网络与信息法学研究会第三次会员大会暨学术年会于2023年3月18日在北京召开。本届年会的主题是“中国式现代化与数字法治建设”，由中国法学会网络与信息法学研究会主办。大会开幕式于上午9时在北京国二招宾馆举行。中国法学会党组成员、副会长王其江，最高人民法院党组成员、副院长、二级大法官杨临萍，最高人民检察院副检察长、检察委员会委员、二级大检察官张雪樵，中共中央网络安全和信息化委员会办公室网络法治局局长李长喜，中国移动通信集团有限公司党组成员、副总经理、总法律顾问、首席合规官高同庆，北京科技大学文法学院党委书记史立伟先后在开幕式上发表了重要致辞。大会通过投票方式选举产生中国法学会网络与信息法学研究会第三届理事会。新一届理事会通过投票方式选举产生理事会会长、副会长、秘书长、常务理事。新当选的研究会会长姜伟同志代表理事会讲话，提出主动服务网络强国、数字中国重大战略部署，为建设公平规范的数字治理生态贡献智慧和力量，为加快构建中国特色法学学科体系、学术体系、话语体系贡献智慧和力量。

薛虹教授再次当选学会常务理事。并在当天下午举行的涉外领域网络与信息法治论坛担任主持人。薛教授指出，为贯彻数字中国建设整体布局规划的要求，构建开放共赢的数字领域国际合作格局提供法律保障，需法学各学科的有识之士积极参与数字领域国际合作，建立多层面协同、多平台支撑、多主体参与的数字领域国际交流合作体系，高质量共建“数字丝绸之路”，积极发展“丝路电商”。拓展数字领域国际合作空间，积极参与联合国、世界贸易组织、二十国集团、亚太经合组织、金砖国家、上合组织等多边框架下的数字领域合作平台，高质量搭建数字领域开放合作新平台，积极参与数据跨境流动等相关国际规则构建。国际法、比较法、刑法、行政法等各学科的12位法学研究者分别发表了观点与意见，研讨圆满成功。

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 18 November 2022, Prof. Xue was invited to present virtually on the Forum of China Africa Cross-Border E-Commerce, which was an important component of 2022 China-Africa Economic and Trade Forum organized by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and Zhejiang Province. Prof. Xue emphasized the importance of paperless trade measures in facilitation of digital trade and elaborated the necessity of international frameworks to enable the cross-border recognition and connectivity of paperless trade measures. Prof. Xue demonstrated to the Chinese and African traders the key international legal instruments on cross-border paperless trade, especially the UN Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific. Prof. Xue’s presentation was highly regarded by the Forum organizers and all audience.

2022中国（浙江）中非经贸论坛暨中非文化合作交流周在金华举办，由中国人民对外友好协会、中国国际贸易促进委员会、中华全国工商业联合会和浙江省人民政府共同主办。论坛聚焦文化交流、商贸合作、人才培养、学术研究等领域，共有20场主题鲜明的特色活动。还有18场配套活动，包含7场重要会议论坛、3场经贸洽谈活动、6场文化交流活动，以及2场展览展示。薛教授受邀在2022中非跨境电商论坛上主题发言。薛教授谈及无纸化贸易便利化措施在数字贸易中占据重要地位，对于提高贸易效率与降低贸易成本发挥重要作用，为使各国的无纸化系统互联互通，必须有相应的国际法律框架使之互认生效。薛教授主要阐述了亚太地区联合国跨境无纸化贸易便利化框架协议的主要法律制度，及对亚太跨境电商的巨大潜力与促进作用。演讲受到会议主办方及与会者的高度评价。

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%。

24 September 2022, Professor Xue was invited to give a keynote speech on “AI-assisted Domain Name Dispute Resolution Mechanisms” at the 2nd International Conference on AI and Judicial Big Data, co-organized by Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Hubei High People’s Court. Prof. Xue discussed the ethical issue in deployment of AI in judicial proceedings and suggested that ADR (like domain name dispute resolution mechanism) may be more suitable area to implement pilot AI systems. AI may provide effective proceeding management for domain name dispute resolution, including receiving and servicing the Parties’ files, verifying the Parties’ identities and organizing cross examination. AI selection of adjudicators may considerably minimize the bias and prejudice and better serve the goals of independence and impartiality. Although AI cannot substitute the adjudicators’ judgement and discretion, it can be very valuable to verify the basic facts such as the information of the Applicant’s trademark registration and/or the Respondent’s domain name registration. It can help the adjudicators to complete the fact checking in the expedited proceedings. Domain name dispute resolution mechanism that is already networked, digitized and standardized can easily adapt to automation powered by AI. In addition, its characteristic of non-exclusive to judicial remedy is another layer of guarantee for AI pilot implementation.

2022年9月24日，薛虹教授受邀在华中科技大学法学院及华中科技大学司法大数据研究中心、湖北省高级人民法院联合举办第二届“人工智能与司法大数据”国际研讨会论坛一上，以“人工智能辅助的互联网域名争议解决机制”为题发表主题发言。薛教授深入探讨了人工智能进行司法裁判可能导致的伦理与法律问题，主张在域名争议解决等替代性争议解决机制领域先行尝试人工智能的应用。薛教授认为，在程序管理与案件裁判两方面，人工智能均能发挥显著的作用。在程序管理方面，人工智能案件管理平台不仅能安全高效地接收、送达案件材料及核查、认证当事人身份，而且能有效组织当事人在线举证、质证等，大大提高案件程序效力，更能在主审人筛选、匹配，案件分配上最小化人工偏见，保障客观、理性。在审理裁判方面，人工智能可以成为主审人极为得力的助手，协助在线连机核查案件基本信息（投诉人商标注册、被投诉人域名注册），在有限的审理期限内、当事人无法进行重复质证的情况下，协助主审人分辨当事人的主张与举证，以作出法律判断。薛教授认为，人工智能在现阶段无法代替主审专家的头脑与裁量。而且，域名争议解决机制具有网络化、标准化、数字化的特征，而且不排斥当事人寻求司法救济，天然适合进行人工智能自动化的实验。来自国内外著名的几十位法学专家及实务界和产业界的嘉宾共论计算法学与智慧司法建设。