Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Margaret Fong announced the opening of the 11th Business of IP Asia Forum (BIP Asia Forum) on December 2. The two-day online event is jointly organized by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), and the Hong Kong Design Centre. As the BIP Asia Forum’s official Media Partner since 2014, China Intellectual Property magazine streamed the live opening ceremony on its platform and will bring exclusive reports about its several sessions.

With "Sparking Innovation - A Driving Force for Sustainable Development and Growth" set as this year's theme, the event brings together over 70 IP experts and business leaders from around the world to share the latest industry trends. Making opening remarks at the opening ceremony this morning were Chief Executive of the HKSAR Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) Shen Changyu, and Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Daren Tang.

At the keynote session “Unleashing Innovation for Sustainability and Growth”, Gautier Engisch, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Legal, Innovation, EMEA, and Global Fabric Care of Procter & Gamble defined the role of technology innovation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and shared P&G's experience in facilitating collaboration and delivering sustainable growth value through an open innovation collaboration platform.

Speakers of the plenary session “Powering New Paradigms for Sustainability and Growth” included Corporate Associate Vice President & Deputy General Manager of the Intellectual Property Division Hisashi Ishijima, Chief IP Counsel of Midea Patrick Guo Zhenpeng, Vice President of IP Legal and General Counsel of Nokia Technologies Ingrid Viitanen, and China Chief Legal Counsel Yang Changhua gave keynote speeches on the theme of promoting a new paradigm for sustainable growth, and analyzed how companies can use the patent system to promote innovation transformation and strengthen resource integration.

The fourth edition of the popular IPHatch Hong Kong was announced. As a platform to connect local startups with multinational companies, IPHatch takes full advantage of Hong Kong's position as the hub of Asia's IP market, transforming patented technologies into new business opportunities.

The opening ceremony’s playback is available here.