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 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。

2022年11月6日，全国范围内首家关于数字经济与数字治理的研究会“北京数字经济与数字治理法治研究会”在北京中国人民大学成立，并发布了国内首个数字经济立法研究报告。该研究会团结全国其他相关组织联合发起全国数字经济与数字治理研究联盟，加深对数字经济发展与法治的专门研究，提供数字经济基础制度建设的学理基础，提高数字经济的创新水平和治理能力，开展法律、经济、科技等跨学科、多维度的交叉科学研究，促进数据要素作用发挥，提升重点领域的数字治理能力，为服务中国式现代化贡献力量。中国法学会党组成员、学术委员会主任张文显，北京市法学会党组书记、专职副会长萧有茂，中国职业技术教育学会会长、教育部原副部长鲁昕，国务院反垄断委员会专家咨询组原组长、国务院法制办公室原副主任、教授张穹，全国社会保障基金理事会原副理事长王忠民，中国工程院院士李幼平，中央保密办科技司陈荣辉，中国人民大学党委常委、副校长王轶，中国人民大学法学院院长黄文艺等嘉宾出席成立大会。500多位政产学研的专家和专业人士通过线上、线下方式参加大会，10万余人次通过线上直播观看了成立大会。

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%。