World Intellectual Property Day (WIPD) marks the date when the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Convention came into force on April 26th, 18 years ago today. This year’s WIPD celebrates the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world with the theme of Powering change: Women in innovation and creativity.
Intellectual property is important to Lenovo for driving innovation and demonstrating market leadership.
“Intellectual property is a strategic asset for Lenovo. It not only protects our investment in invention and innovation, but also positions Lenovo’s businesses to flourish and grow. We are tremendously proud of the many creative contributions of Lenovo women in the areas of research, technology and product development, patenting, brand marketing, and other IP-driven pursuits.” Lenovo’s Chief Legal Officer and SVP, Laura Quatela said of the role that intellectual property plays in Lenovo’s business development, “Our diverse culture enables us to solve customer problems in a more enlightened way. With men and women from around the world working together in One Lenovo, I am confident that we will successfully leverage the company’s intangible IP to achieve a solid and substantial future.”
Lenovo is continuing its focus on increasing the ranks of female inventors. Last year, 12% of patents issued to Lenovo came from female inventors or from teams with at least one female inventor.
Innovation depends on having an innovative IP environment for research and development (R&D). Shirley (Yuanqing) Chen, Director of China Patent Team, sees patenting as a powerful tool to facilitate marketing success and product innovation. Patent plays a critical yet versatile role in intellectual property strategy: Patents can be used defensively to protect inventions and R&D inventions from potential competitors or they can be used proactively by licensing to other companies to generate revenue.
To fulfill the mission of protecting and enabling Lenovo’s global businesses, Shirley led the China patent team to enlarge the scope of patent protection in both quantity and quality. In 2013, Lenovo became the first Chinese company to join WIPO’s Hague System, under which more than 68 countries have agreed upon a unified system for the registration and protection of industrial designs. In 2016, Lenovo ranked sixth place on the top 10 list of companies filling patent applications in the Hague System.