Dr. Lulin GAO, Chairman

Dr. Gao is an uncommonly qualified expert in the field of intellectual property. He worked for many years in public office in the field of intellectual property protection in China and has been very active in the intellectual property and information technology areas. During the course of his career he has held the positions of Commissioner of the Chinese Patent Office and the founding Commissioner of State Intellectual Property Office (China). He was a senior advisor to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva for roughly two years. Dr. Gao is currently the President of All-China Patent Agents Association (ACPAA), Vice Chairman of the China Internet Society and a member of the Steering Committee of the China Internet Network Information Center.


Dr. Gao has headed numerous delegations for the Chinese government at many international forums and diplomatic conferences on intellectual property. He has also held the Chair of the Paris Union Assembly and the WIPO General Assembly. In 1995, he was given the Grand Star Cross by the German government for his remarkable contributions to the field of IP protection and international cooperation and in that same year, the European Patent Office awarded him the International Cooperation Medal for his contributions to the field. He helped founded the Intellectual Property Institution at Peking University and has published numerous works on patent prosecution and litigation, licensing, IPR protection, TRIPS Agreement and domain names.


Dr. Gao is not only an intellectual property expert, but also has strong technology backgrounds. His first degree, a Bachelors of Science, was in prospecting technology and he earned a Ph.D in the area from one of the top schools in the former Soviet Union. For many years, he worked in research institutes, ministries, at the State Planning Commission and the State Economic Planning Commission as a technology specialist and although in later years the major thrust of his career shifted to intellectual property issues, he has remained active in the field. He is currently a Fellow at the Russian International Academy of Engineering. Dr. Gao speaks Chinese (native), English and Russian.