EAST LANSING, MI, U.S.A and BEIJING, P.R.C. — The Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection, or A-CAPP Center, at MSU and the Quality Brands Protection Committee, or QBPC recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate cooperation between the two prestigious organizations.
The A-CAPP Center, the United States’ premier academic center for the study and advancement of the protection of brands and products, joins with QBPC, the only non-profit, member-driven organization of foreign-based brand owners operating in the People’s Republic of China and focused on improving the intellectual property rights legal framework and enforcement in China.
The agreement will allow A-CAPP Center and QBPC to focus on the important issues of intellectual property, brand protection and anti-counterfeiting strategies between the U.S. and China, as well as other countries. The agreement states that both parties are willing to work together on these issues and it provides a framework for the orgnaizations to move forward with concrete action to help protect intellectual property globally.
“This is vital for us as the only academic center that focuses on a multi-disciplinary approach to product counterfeiting,” said Kari Kammel, assistant director for outreach and education at the A-CAPP Center.
The A-CAPP Center recognizes the fundamental importance of taking a broad approach to this problem and also engaging those who work with these issues every day in China.
“QBPC has long worked to improve brand protection practices within China” stated Michael Ding, Chairman of QBPC and Head of IP Operations in Asia, Middle East, and Africa for ABB, one of the 194 member companies of QBPC. “With A-CAPP we hope to better advise both our members and others operating in China on how best to protect their intellectual property rights.”
About the A-CAPP Center at Michigan State University: The A-CAPP Center is an independent, interdisciplinary evidence-based hub whose activities focus on research, education and outreach designed to assist in protecting brands and products of all industries worldwide. The A-CAPP Center falls under the College of Social Science. Learn more at a-capp.msu.edu
About QBPC: QBPC was founded in 2000 and is comprised of 194 foreign invested companies, whose parents are headquartered in America, Europe, Asia and Oceania respectively. QBPC is an industry group run by a group of volunteers and supported by professional staff with the objective of improving China’s commercial rule of law and intellectual property protection-based cooperation with Chinese government and stakeholders. Learn more at qbpc.org.cn.