Experts' take on the Sino-US Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement

IP regulations

Mark Cohen mainly shared his understanding of the intellectual property clauses in the S&T Agreement. He said the interaction with China in intellectual property rights over the past decade has been very helpful. Chinese colleagues such as former minister Wan Gang provided an important channel for discussing IP issues from the perspective of informed users. Engagement in the Innovation Dialogue also helped China to revise its IP regulations to broaden cooperation within the framework if the WTO. Cohen quoted a statement in a 2016 US Government Accountability Office report that the renewal of the agreement conflicted with Chinese law; that issue has now been resolved. Over the past decade, however, many new issues have emerged including privacy and data protection, better protection of trade secrets, patent protection for AI and genomics, etc. He cited cases of China applying for intellectual property rights in the United States, but where US entities were not applying for patent protection under Chinese law. This highlights the need for improved approaches by the US government to manage IP in its terms, too.

Cohen's main suggestions included: first, to fully disclose the information of the renewal in 2018, as well as relevant research results, such as patent applications, results publications, and other data before August 27; second, in alignment with Denis Simon, we need to upgrade the version of the S&T Agreement to version 2.0 or 3.0 to make it more modern; third, to focus on the role that government should play, including a more active role in identifying property rights, rather than relying on the market to solve it by itself; and fourth, the two sides should find a suitable path to reduce the risks associated with cooperation, expand the benefits of cooperation, and pay attention to key issues, and remember, there is no “one-size-fits-all" solution.

Mark Cohen is a distinguished senior fellow and director of BCLT Asia Intellectual Property Project.