The list of China's most influential people in the intellectual property domain for the year 2012 was announced recently in Beijing.

Jointly created by the State Intellectual Property Office, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the National Copyright Administration, the annual program covers the fields of patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Candidates are from various sectors, ranging from customs, the police, courts and government agencies to the academic circle and the business community.

This year, 12 distinguished figures won the honor, including Tao Xinliang, head of Shanghai University's intellectual property school, Huang Feng, chief of the Sichuan provincial IP office, and Chen Yidan, honorary adviser to and former chief administrative officer of Tencent, China's leading Internet service provider.

"Compared with the traditional protection mode, copyright issues on the Internet are more complicated and thus harder to define," Chen said in a recent interview, noting that striking a balance between the legitimate interests of rights owners and the right of the public to use the copyrighted product is a common concern around the globe.

Chen was listed because of his outstanding contribution to copyright when he was CAO at Tencent. He left the job last March.

Under his leadership, the Shenzhen-based company won the Award for Innovative Enterprises presented by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2012.

Also, he proposed founding the Shenzhen Copyright Golden Award, the first of its kind in the country.

As a member of the expert panel for NCA, he contributed his insight to the revised copyright law, said Cui Jianjun, assistant secretary-general of the Patent Protection Association.

The flourishing of the Internet industry is dependent on the copyright system, Chen noted.

And the fostering of an "ecosystem" for the industry's sustainable growth requires an optimized legal environment that benefits different stakeholders, he said.

Innovation has played a large role in the journey that has transformed Tencent from a five-member startup to an Internet giant with more than 300 million registered users of its content service WeChat, or Weixin in Chinese, Chen said.

Around 10 percent of the company's annual sales is invested in core and fundamental technology R&D.

"The Internet is epitome of technology, with innovation embedded in its bones," Chen said.

The industry is changing fast and is characterized by fierce competition. New business models and innovative products can usually change the market landscape overnight, he said.

"Thus, we encourage technological innovation and promote the healthy growth of the industry," he said, adding that Tencent aims to "build an open platform for mutual benefit and create a sound ecosystem for China's Internet world".

Tencent's momentum has also caught attention overseas. It placed 16th among the world's 50 most innovative companies, according to a recent ranking released by the US business magazine Fast Company.

On a Forbes list last year, Tencent even surpassed electronic giant Apple to rank fourth in terms of innovative capacity.

In addition, 10 major intellectual property protection events and 10 key cases in 2012 were also unveiled at the ceremony.

wangxin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/22/2013 page17)