On May 15th, the 12th Shanghai Pujiang Intellectual Property International Forum (2026) and the Yangtze River Delta Pearl River Delta Intellectual Property Cooperation Joint Conference, as well as the Beijing Tianjin Shanghai Chongqing Intellectual Property Forum, were grandly held at the Zhangjiang Robot Valley in Zhangjiang Science City, Shanghai. The theme of this forum is “Empowering High Quality Development in the 15th Five Year Plan with Intellectual Property, Building a New Paradigm for Global Innovation Cooperation”. It gathers elites from the global political, business, and academic circles, focuses on cutting-edge issues in the field of intellectual property, deepens cross regional and cross-border exchanges and cooperation, and injects new momentum into promoting the construction of a strong country in intellectual property and the coordinated development of global science and technology innovation.

As an influential annual international event in the field of intellectual property in China, this forum is jointly hosted by more than 20 units, including the South South Cooperation Promotion Association of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China Europe Economic and Technological Cooperation Association. It continues the “one meeting, multiple platforms” linkage model and simultaneously builds two major exchange systems for intellectual property cooperation linkage in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Pearl River Delta, as well as the Beijing Tianjin Shanghai Chongqing intellectual property coordination system. It aims to create a comprehensive high-end platform that integrates policy discussions, industry docking, international cooperation, and achievement transformation. The event attracted over 600 government officials, experts, scholars, corporate executives, and representatives of international organizations from more than 40 countries and regions to attend in person, with over 300000 online live views.

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1、 Opening Ceremony: Director Hong Yongqing presides over, setting the tone for the forum

The opening ceremony was presided over by Hong Yongqing, Executive Director of the South South Cooperation Promotion Association of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Shanghai Office, and former Deputy Director of the Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau. He succinctly and clearly introduced the core agenda, attendees, and significance of this forum, emphasizing the important role of the forum in linking global intellectual property resources and promoting cross regional collaborative development, laying a good foundation for the smooth progress of the opening ceremony.

Mr. Hong Yongqing, Executive Director of the South South Cooperation Promotion Association of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Shanghai Office, presided over the opening ceremony

At the opening ceremony,Several industry heavyweight guests have delivered important speeches successively

Among them, Tian Lipu, former Director of the China National Intellectual Property Administration and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group, pointed out in his speech that AI is comprehensively reconstructing the global industrial ecology and innovation model, and profoundly transforming the intellectual property protection system. He emphasized that the prosperity of technology leads to national prosperity, and strong innovation leads to national strength. Artificial intelligence, as the core engine of the new round of technological revolution, directly determines China’s competitiveness in science and technology innovation and the process of building a strong intellectual property country. Strengthening intellectual property protection and institutional innovation is the core driving force for promoting high-quality development.

Yan Xiaohong, the principle director of the China Copyright Association, also delivered a speech at the forum, focusing on the new challenges in intellectual property governance brought about by the development of the digital economy and AI, and proposing clear solutions. Yan Xiaohong pointed out that while the development of digital economy and AI has given rise to new forms of intellectual property, it has also brought many governance challenges: the copyright field needs to abandon the development concept of quantity first and focus on the originality and practical transformation value of works; The field of data copyright needs to accelerate the implementation of legislation and actively respond to key issues such as authorization mechanisms and rights compensation; At the same time, we must strictly crack down on piracy and infringement, strengthen the responsibilities of law enforcement agencies and platform entities, form long-term deterrence through typical cases, and promote the healthy and orderly development of the copyright industry.

Mr. Chang Le, President of the Global Chamber of Commerce Federation, expressed his views on the issue of intellectual property rights protection for enterprises going abroad, based on the actual development of enterprises. He stated that in response to the pain points faced by enterprises in the process of going global, such as difficulties in safeguarding their rights and numerous disputes, the Global Chamber of Commerce Federation will launch three major escort actions, namely building a global intellectual property risk warning network, establishing a cross-border rights protection rapid response mechanism, and promoting mutual recognition and coordination of international intellectual property standards to safeguard enterprises going global. At the same time, the Federation will actively promote the collaborative construction of intellectual property rights in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, create a model for regional intellectual property development, and help form a new pattern of cross regional collaborative development.

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2、 Lawyer Tang Huadong from Zhide Law Firm attended the event and delivered a keynote speech

In addition to the keynote speech at the opening ceremony, this forum also set up a number of thematic forums, round table dialogues and achievements display and other links, focusing on artificial intelligence, integrated circuit, biomedicine and other leading industries, and conducting in-depth discussions on core issues such as intellectual property protection in emerging fields, high-value patent cultivation and achievements transformation, data trading and intellectual property compliance, and international cooperation in intellectual property of the “the Belt and Road”, providing a multi perspective and practical path for the development of the industry.
Among them, Lawyer Tang Huadong, a partner of Beijing Zhide Law Firm, was invited to attend the sub venue forum and give a speech, focusing on the core issue of “global layout of intellectual property rights for overseas enterprises, FTO clearance and disputes”. Combining years of practical experience and typical cases, he provided a systematic and practical solution for building a global intellectual property defense line for overseas enterprises, which won wide recognition and warm applause from the attending guests.

Lawyer Tang Huadong focuses on the core pain points in the process of enterprises going global, sharing from the dimensions of patent layout strategy, FTO practical methods, etc. The content combines theoretical and practical depth, providing valuable practical guidance for on-site enterprises.

2.1 Patent Layout: “Three Table Priority Model” and “Four Layer Map Decomposition System”
In terms of overseas patent layout strategy, Lawyer Tang Huadong proposed the “Three Table Priority Layout Model”, which abandons the misconception of “quantity over quality” in traditional patent layout, and emphasizes that patent layout should fully meet the commercial needs of enterprises, with precise efforts and key breakthroughs. He elaborated on the core logic of the three tables:
Technical dimension: Build patent barriers around the core self-developed technology of the enterprise, focus on technical pain points and innovation points, form a stable and defensive patent combination, and consolidate the technological moat;

National dimension: Based on factors such as business planning, target market size, and market access barriers, select key countries and regions for going global, prioritize patent applications in core and high potential markets, and take into account the differences in intellectual property laws in different jurisdictions;

Transaction dimension: Combining enterprise financing nodes, technology external authorization goals, customer channel expansion and other commercial scenarios, reasonably controlling the pace of patent layout, making patent layout truly serve the business development goals of the enterprise, and enhancing the commercial value of patents.

This system comprehensively serves the four core scenarios of enterprise market access, product infringement defense, commercial transaction premium, and cross-border rights protection and evidence collection, helping enterprises achieve the maximization of patent layout value.

2.2 FTO Practice: “Four Step Method” and Six Types of High Risk Signals
Lawyer Tang Huadong clearly distinguished the core differences between patent layout and FTO in response to the FTO risk response issues that enterprises are most concerned about during their overseas expansion process. He explained in plain language: “Patent layout solves the problem of ‘what chips do I have’, which is an ‘offensive’ strategy for enterprises to build their own intellectual property competitiveness; while FTO risk assessment solves the problem of ‘whether I can enter and how to enter’ the target market, which is a ‘defensive’ strategy for enterprises to ensure market access. ”

He emphasized that many companies mistakenly believe that having a large number of overseas patents can provide peace of mind, but this is not the case. Even if the patent layout is well-established, without conducting FTO verification, it may still be impossible to freely implement products in the target market due to infringement of third-party patents, and face serious consequences such as infringement lawsuits, fines, and market bans. Therefore, FTO verification is a necessary step for enterprises to go global and a core means to avoid cross-border intellectual property risks.

In order to enable participating companies to quickly master the practical methods of FTO, Lawyer Tang Huadong summarized the “Four Step Method for FTO Implementation”:

1. Object identification: Conduct FTO analysis specifically for specific products, core technologies, and key components to avoid blind searches and improve troubleshooting efficiency;

2. Targeting countries: Focus on target countries and regions for overseas expansion, and conduct precise investigations based on the local intellectual property legal system and patent layout status;

3. Classify relevant patents into three categories: those that can avoid risks, those that require authorization and licensing, and those that can challenge invalidity, and develop differentiated response plans;

4. Output suggestion: Provide an actionable and implementable FTO report that clearly answers core questions such as whether the product can enter the target market, how to avoid infringement risks, and whether authorization needs to be negotiated with third parties, providing accurate basis for business decision-making.

He emphasized that high-quality FTO analysis should not only identify risks, but also output actionable business path recommendations. Professional FTO analysis should combine the characteristics of enterprise products, technological strength, and business goals to provide practical and feasible solutions, helping enterprises achieve a win-win situation between market access and business development while avoiding risks.

2.3 Closed loop management: “Four stage promotion strategy” and pre dispute resolution

In terms of closed-loop management of overseas intellectual property, Lawyer Tang Huadong proposed a “four stage promotion strategy” to help enterprises achieve full cycle and full process control of intellectual property, and build an integrated system of “pre defense, full process control, and post response”:

Phase 1- Before entering the market: Clarify the overseas goals and market priorities, combine with the intellectual property environment of the target market, and complete preliminary patent layout planning and risk assessment;

Phase 2- Before the product is launched: Fully complete FTO risk clearance, remove market access barriers, and ensure that the product enters the target market legally and compliantly;

Phase Three – Business Expansion Period: Based on market feedback, technological upgrades, and competitor dynamics, fill in the gaps in overseas patent layout, improve intellectual property barriers, and enhance core competitiveness;

Phase Four – Dispute Generation Period: Quickly sort out the infringement chain, fix evidence materials, activate efficient response mechanisms, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises through negotiation, litigation, arbitration, and other means.

He emphasized that the core competitiveness of mature overseas enterprises lies not in their ability to defend their rights afterwards, but in the pre dispute management. Many companies only start preparing evidence materials and developing response plans after encountering intellectual property infringement disputes, which results in high costs and long cycles for rights protection, and may even miss market opportunities. Mature enterprises will reserve evidence materials and response documents for rights protection in advance, establish a rapid response cross-border rights protection mechanism, and be prepared in advance, using pre defense instead of post remedy, significantly reducing the cost of rights protection and business losses.

Finally, Lawyer Tang Huadong summarized three practical suggestions to help companies better cope with intellectual property challenges in the process of going global:
Make good asset layout and build core chips for overseas competition and negotiation of enterprises

Carry out FTO mine clearance to ensure the safety of product landing and commercial transactions.

Reserve dispute response materials in advance and establish a rapid response mechanism for safeguarding rights.

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3、 Forum Summary

After twelve years of deep cultivation and meticulous work, the Shanghai Pujiang Intellectual Property International Forum has become an important bridge connecting China and the world in intellectual property exchange and cooperation, witnessing the leapfrog development of China’s intellectual property industry from introduction and absorption to independent innovation, from domestic development to global layout.

Lawyer Tang Huadong, with his professional contributions and industry influence in the field of intellectual property, has been awarded an honorary certificate by the Shanghai Pujiang Intellectual Property International Forum Organizing Committee. This certificate is not only a high recognition of Zhide Law Firm and Zhizhongde’s professional abilities and shared value, but also a recognition of their assistance in helping Chinese enterprises go global and promoting the development of the intellectual property industry.

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4、 Event Outlook

In the future, with the deepening of the “15th Five Year Plan”, the core role of intellectual property in high-quality development will become more prominent. Zhide Law Firm and Zhizhongde Ben will continue to deeply cultivate the field of intellectual property, continuously improve their professional service capabilities, actively participate in exchanges and cooperation in the field of intellectual property, and help Chinese enterprises achieve higher quality development in the global market, contributing professional strength to the construction of an intellectual property power and global innovation cooperation. The development of technology has no end, only continuous progress and breakthroughs.

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