On March 25, Professor Liu Chuntian, Founder and Chairman of Beijing Sunshine Intellectual Property and Law Development Foundation (“the Foundation”), outstanding jurist, legal educator, founder of Chinese intellectual property law discipline, pioneer of Chinese intellectual property law education, active promoter of international intellectual property exchanges, international intellectual property scholar, passed away. The whole intellectual property community was deeply saddened and regretful.
On the afternoon of April 20, Beijing Sunshine Intellectual Property and Law Development Foundation (“ the Foundation”) held a memorial ceremony for Liu Chuntian, Chairman of the Board of Directors, at Beijing Science Hall. The venue was solemn and serene. Under the huge portrait of Professor Liu Chuntian, there were flower baskets, flowers and elegies bearing people's deep sorrow.
Over 200 people from the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the China National Intellectual Property Administration, the China Copyright Association, the China Trademark Association and other state organs, enterprises and public institutions, intellectual property officials of Embassies and Consulates in China, as well as Professor Liu Chuntian's classmates, colleagues, students, friends and families attended the memorial event.
At 15:00 in the afternoon, the commemorative activity began. Professor Liu Ruiqi, one of the founders of the Foundation and Dean of the Lawyers School of Renmin University of China, presided over the first stage of the memorial activity. “At Yellow Crane Tower in the west, my old friend says farewell; In the mist and flowers of spring he goes down to Yangzhou; Lonely sail, distant shadow, vanish in blue emptiness; All I see is the great river flowing into the far horizon.” A poem by Li Bai's Seeing Meng Haoran off from Yellow Crane Tower expressed Professor Liu Ruiqi's deep memory for Professor Liu Chuntian. Under the proposal of Professor Liu Ruiqi, everyone bowed three times in silence, expressed our high respect and deep memory to Chairman Liu Chuntian.
Amidst the low echo of music, a video recording Chairman Liu Chuntian’s life was played in the venue. From learning to work, from teaching to research, from theory to practice, from China to the world, the video showcased Chairman Liu Chuntian's decades of unremitting efforts and persistent pursuit of the intellectual property cause, and recorded the tremendous achievements and influence that Chairman Liu Chuntian had achieved.
Professor Guo He, Vice Dean of the School of Intellectual Property at Renmin University of China, presided over the second part of the memorial.
First of all, Professor Li Chen from the School of Intellectual Property, Renmin University of China, a disciple and colleague of Professor Liu Chuntian, introduced the life of Chairman Liu Chuntian.
Afterwards, the guests delivered speeches.
Tao Kaiyuan, Vice President of the Supreme People's Court, David Kappos, former Vice Secretary of Commerce and Director of the Patent and Trademark Office of the United States, and Anthony Chen, an American expert on the China-US Intellectual Property Scholars Dialogue, expressed their condolences to Professor Liu Chuntian via videos.
Tao Kaiyuan, Vice President of the Supreme People's Court, expressed sorrows to Professor Liu Chuntian at the press conference of the Supreme People's Court's Intellectual Property Promotion Week. She said that at the same time this morning, the Law School of Renmin University of China held a memorial event for Professor Liu Chuntian. It coincided perfectly with the time of the press conference, and it was regrettable that she cannot attend the memorial activity in person. Professor Liu Chuntian was the pioneer of intellectual property law education in China and the founder of the discipline of intellectual property law. He had devoted his life to the education and research of intellectual property law in China and enjoyed high prestige in the theoretical and practical circles of intellectual property law at home and abroad. He has made outstanding contributions to the development and formulation of China's intellectual property laws. As a special consultant of the fourth Session of the Supreme People's Court and a member of the Academic Committee of the Intellectual Property Judicial Protection Research Center of the Supreme People's Court, Professor Liu Chuntian had long been concerned about and supported China's intellectual property judicial work, actively promoted the improvement of intellectual property judicial policies, concerned about and supported China's intellectual property judicial work and actively promoted the improvement of intellectual property judicial policies. Has contributed important wisdom and strength to the judicial protection of intellectual property rights and the development of people's judicial undertakings. Here, we would like to express our deep condolences to Professor Liu Chuntian’s family.
David Kapos, former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Commerce and Director of the Patent and Trademark Office, said in his video speech that at this very, very sad moment, he would like to offer a few words about Professor Liu through the video. “I would remember him as a true champion of Dialogue, of discourse and doing the right thing for the right reasons, for the leadership that he provided, the collegiality in the many years that we work together on the Dialogue. It’s a major tragedy. I can’t overstate how shocked and saddened I was and my other colleagues on the U.S. side of the US-China IP Experts Dialogue. Judge Randall Rader, Mark A. Cohen, Anthony Chen and Eric Priest, we all exchanged emails and we consoled each other and expressed our deep sorrow but also our deep appreciation and admiration for Professor Liu, someone who we just loved working with and whose memory we will carry with us forever. It’s our pledge and commitment to the Dialogue, and to our colleagues in China who care about China's intellectual property system and having China be successful in in innovation and in intellectual property. It’s important to us that we carry on as a tribute to Professor Liu, that we remember his legacy, that we live up to his leadership and his camaraderie collegiality. We continue to do the right thing for the right reasons. So let me end by offering my most sincere condolences to Professor Liu's family, colleagues, and friends in China.”
Video by Anthony Chen, an US expert in the China U.S. IP Experts Dialogue
Messages of condolence from the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate were also broadcast at the event. In their messages of condolence, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate spoke highly of Professor Liu Chuntian's outstanding contributions to the intellectual property cause and expressed deep condolences over Professor Liu's passing away.
Mr. Yu Jun, Secretary of the China U.S. IP Experts Dialogue, introduced the mourning of Professor Liu Chuntian by the US and countries around the world. He specifically mentioned that Professor Liu Chuntian led the establishment of the China U.S. Intellectual Property Experts Dialogue Mechanism. In countless dialogues, Professor Liu has won high praise from his US counterparts for his noble character, exquisite academic skills, especially international perspective, and patriotic enthusiasm.
Mr. Yan Xiaohong, Chairman of the China Copyright Association, Mr. Ma Fu, President of the China Trademark Association, Mr. Liu Longjiang, a high school classmate of Professor Liu Chuntian, and veteran colleague Mr. Cao Liga delivered speeches at the memorial service.
In the free speech session, Professor Liu Chuntian's friends, classmates, colleagues and students gave speeches to express their sorrow for his passing away and their best wishes to the Sunshine Foundation.
Professor Ma Yide, Director of Zhongguancun Intellectual Property Strategy Research Institute, delivered a speech at the end. First of all, on behalf of the Foundation, he expressed his heartfelt thanks to all seniors, teachers, classmates, colleagues, brothers and sisters for attending the memorial service for Professor Liu. He said that Professor. Liu's career had not been completed. In the more than 20 years of communication with Professor Liu, what Professor Liu cared most about was the construction of the basic theory of intellectual property and the development of China's intellectual property cause. In recent years, he has made great efforts to establish the Global Intellectual Property 50 Forum. This time, he went to the US to invite the world's renowned intellectual property experts and scholars to attend the Intellectual Property GIP 50 Forum to be held in China later this year. He went in with that responsibility. Therefore, the Sunshine Foundation will inherit the original intention of Professor Liu and the legacy of Professor Liu. We will make concerted efforts to fulfill Professor Liu’s trust in the Foundation, participate in intellectual property law research, strengthen practical research on intellectual property, strengthen international cooperation, and build the Sunshine Foundation into a world renowned and domestic first-class foundation. An influential foundation in the intellectual property community. Professor Liu left, we are all very sad, maybe this is not the intention of Professor Liu, maybe the intention of Professor Liu is that each of us in the intellectual property community, continue to work together to complete the unfinished business of Professor Liu, in order to inform and comfort Professor Liu's spirit in heaven.
At the end of the event, Mr. Liu Ping, the representative of Professor Liu Chuntian's family, delivered a speech, thanking the foundation for holding the memorial activity for Professor Liu Chuntian, and thanking everyone for participating in the memorial activity.
Professor Liu Chuntian, Chairman of the Board, have a good journey!
微信公众号：北京阳光知识产权基金会
Copyright: The Beijing Sunshine Intellectual Property and Legal Development Foundation