Due to Haseltine Lake's great relationship with the European Patent Office we were asked to arrange a trip to Shanghai for several experts from the EPO. From the 31st October to 1st November Haseltine Lake's Senior Partner (Chemistry and Life Sciences) David Brown and our Chief Representative for China, Li Min (Ellie) accompanied several senior members of the EPO on their trip. We assisted them in introducing the EPO as well as collecting questions and advice from local companies who are applicants in the European Patent Convention. Representing the EPO were Peter Albrecht, Principal Director of Operations (Healthcare, Biotechnology and Chemistry), Thomas Eijkenboom, Director (Healthcare, Biotechnology and Chemistry) and Francisco Fernandez Brañas, Director (Healthcare, Biotechnology and Chemistry).

During the course of the two days David Brown and Li Min (Ellie), accompanied the EPO experts as they met with many Chinese companies, research institutes and agencies. These meetings and seminars helped to promote the understanding of the European Patent Office for Chinese intellectual property practitioners and delivered a forum to conduct active discussions on application practices. They also provided an important platform to enhance the EPO experts' understanding of Chinese companies.

In the afternoon of November 1st, the Pudong Intellectual Property Association and Ding & Associates hosted the "2018 European Patent Procurement Forum", which was a tremendous success. The participants were mainly the heads of intellectual property departments of high-tech companies and scientific research institutions. The conference drew an audience of more than 90 intellectual property practitioners.

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