Toolots Inaugural Manufacturing Exchange Summit brings together key individuals from the U.S. and China for open, honest and productive dialogues
CERRITOS, Calif. – Aug. 29, 2016 – Monday was the first of the three-day Inaugural Manufacturing Exchange Summit, involving key discussions between industry, government and thought leaders from both the United States and China. The Summit was hosted at Toolots, Inc. headquarters in Cerritos, California, and served as a bridge to connect leaders in both countries through open, honest and productive dialogues.
The panel on Protecting Intellectual Property included Bill Mongelluzzo, senior editor of the Journal of Commerce; Vice-Mayor of Yuyao, China, Han Baishun; Frank Cullen Jr. with the GIPC; Gu Liquin, deputy chief of the Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone; Jason Yu and Jonathan Jaech, partners and attorneys at law with Los Angeles-based Snell & WilmerThe first topic addressed was intellectual property protections, and ways manufacturers can ensure their innovative technologies remain out of the hands of counterfeiters or those who seek to illegally replicate the products through patent or trademark infringement. Crediting the strides China has made in recent years was Frank Cullen Jr., executive director of intellectual property policy with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC), who pointed to China’s rising through the ranks of the GIPC’s Global Intellectual Property Index. It analyzes the strength of intellectual property (IP) laws in trading countries around the world, enforcement efforts and other considerations.
Cullen recognized recent enforcement actions by Chinese authorities to stifle the proliferation of counterfeit products from not only trade ports and factory floors, but also the online stores where illegitimate products are sold in the first place. Preserving brand integrity and protecting innovation are protected is critical to IP worldwide, he said.
“Great progress has been made and I’m seeing openness relating to intellectual property, but there is still room for improvement” Cullen said, describing the increased attention Chinese authorities are paying to illegal efforts by counterfeiters and increased domestic enforcement efforts against others who seek to tilt the playing field. “You know, the U.S. used to be a leader in enforcement (based on the Global IP Index). We’re No. 5. So we need to do a little bit of a better job ourselves, and certainly improvement can go around.”
Vice Mayor of Yuyao, China, Han Baishun, also acknowledged a shared responsibility to protect intellectual property originating from international businesses. He added that there is an intellectual property protection association based in China that investigates and follows up on related complaints, in addition to a wide range of government agencies that do the same.
“We need to be the ones protecting intellectual property, not just you,” Baishun said, addressing U.S. leaders also involved in the panel discussion. “We need to include everybody (in these dialogues), follow statewide law and have overarching laws around our country. It’s important to pay attention to the international points of view; we can learn from the others.”
Chinese government officials report complaints of intellectual property theft to enforcement hubs in Beijing and other key areas, Baishun explained.
Deputy Chief Gu Liquin of the Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone, a Chinese governmental organization, added, “I believe that to protect intellectual property is to protect our collective future.”
He pointed to an example in December where a Chinese company was discovered to have violated existing trademarks. “We asked them to remove the products immediately,” Liquin said. “We do and we will always try our best to protect intellectual property rights.”
The country’s circuit court provides individuals and corporations with a “comprehensive process that provides you with the rights you should have,” Liquin said.
The discussion was moderated by veteran journalist Bill Mongelluzzo, senior editor of the Journal of Commerce, which provides leading coverage of trade and transportation around the world.
Attorneys Jason Yu and Jonathan Jaech, partners with Los Angeles-based Snell & Wilmer, contributed their expertise on intellectual property and patent law, describing how the legal process differs in China and the United States. Generally speaking, it costs less to file a lawsuit compared to the United States, and the process is much quicker.
Yu said the average lawsuit in the state of California takes about 20 to 24 months from start to finish, while the process can take only a matter of weeks in China and fees are much lower. However, lawsuits in the U.S. allow for greater discovery to take place, a legal term to describe the process where evidence is shared between the prosecution and the defense.
“I’m where the rubber meets the road, as a litigator,” Yu said, adding that patents are of great value in protecting intellectual property beforehand. Yu and Jaech explained that patents are a critical piece of the intellectual property puzzle, whether that is in the United States, China or in both countries.
If a patent is worth money in the United States, Jaech said it is also worth money in China and worth investigating to add a new layer of infringement protections.
Vice Mayor Baishun elaborated, stating that there are no regional differences between patents across all of China. If it is valid in one Chinese province, it is valid statewide, according to Baishun.
Describing what could help drive increased foreign investments into the Chinese marketplace, Cullen with the U.S. Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center said removing the uncertainty some companies have is essential.
“When you have IP systems that are strong and create protections for companies, you will see a direct link to investment. Access to capital comes when you (companies) say, ‘I’m able to secure this product in the marketplace,’” he said.
Following the panel, founder and chief executive officer of Toolots, Jason Fu, remarked, “I’ve learned a lot through these discussions and speeches given by our distinguished guests.”
Fu described how he came to the United States as a Chinese immigrant in the 1990s, dreaming of coming to the country and starting a business since he was young. The successful business owner has owned and operating a wide range of companies throughout his career, but said it all came together when he created an online marketplace for industrial tools through the Bolton Group shortly after emigrating from China. Capitalizing on the Internet as a sales platform early on, Fu said the introduction of Google AdWords was “revolutionary” in helping connect directly with customers in need of equipment.
“We are feeling the magic of the Internet, and its power,” Fu said of Toolots, a company he launched to provide industrial machinery from A to Z all around the world, similar to Amazon’s online marketplace where consumers are directly connected with manufacturers. Toolots is headquartered in Cerritos, California, and has locations in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Houston, Texas.
The Toolots Inaugural Manufacturing Exchange Summit will continue through Aug. 31, 2016.
