Sir Richard Needham has spent near fifty years in business and politics.  He has unrivalled access at the highest levels into both public and private sectors in Asia, Europe and the US.

From 1985-1992 Richard Needham was a British Minister in Northern Ireland, and was appointed the Minister of Trade at the UK DTI in 1992.

Since leaving politics he has become involved in a number of businesses both large and small.  He was Director of several leading corporations. He is President of the British Exporters’ Association and continues informally to advise the British Government on trade promotion matters.  He is also an advisor to the President of Colombia on the peace process.  Richard is the author of two books and is an Honourary Doctor of laws for the University of Ulster. He is a founder member of the UK-Japan 21st Century Group.

Dr. Jacques Michel has served as a policy maker, politician, as well as a diplomat in his fifty years of professional career.

Dr. Jacques Michel was the former Vice President of the European Patent Office (EPO) in year 1987-2002. During his tenure in EPO, he was in charge of the Directorate General 1, implemented automation of prior art search for EPO, and built up several popular electronic tools such as EPOQUE suite of applications and Espacenet on line service.

Earlier in 1971-1987, Dr. Jacques Michel held various positions in the French Secretariat of State for Research and the Ministry of Industry, and in the Services of the Prime Minister, related to problems of scientific and technological information issues.

From 1968 to 1971, Dr. Michel was appointed Science Attaché to the French Embassy to the United States of America, and served as Assistant and then Senior Assistant at the Science Faculty of Paris-Orsay afterwards.

Dr. Michel has a doctorate in Physical Science at Paris University. He has been the Director of EUROPATIS (European Patent searching Company) since 2009.

Dr. Lin has practiced over twenty years in the field of Intellectual Property. As a licensed patent attorney, he has played a significant role in several intellectual property litigation matters. His technical specialties cover broad spectrum of physics science, electronic and semiconductor devices and manufactures, computer software and hardware, fiber optics, image and display technologies, and MEM and nano-technologies. Dr. Lin is a member of California State Bar, and is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences.

Dr. Lin also has rich experiences in industry. Prior to his legal career, he spent fifteen years as a system engineer at IBM and Lockheed. Dr. Lin worked for General Electric as Nuclear Fuel Project Manager responsible for managing nuclear fuels for the Nuclear Power Stations in Taiwan.

Dr. Lin received his J.D. from Santa Clara University, his Ph.D. in Nuclear engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and his B.S.E. in Nuclear engineering from National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan. He also completed his JSD course requirements in Stanford University.

Mr. Anman QIU studied in London School of Economics – Department of Law and the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a concentration in international business administration. Mr. QIU acted as the former Deputy Director General of the National Copyright Administration of China, WIPO Patent Examiner, Executive President of Zhongguancun Institute of Intellectual Property Strategy, President of Music Copyright Society of China, Vice President of Copyright Agency of China, Associate Director of Editorial Department of Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, and Legal Consultant of Acumed, LLC.

Mr. Anman QIU participated in drafting the Chinese Copyright Law, acted as a representative of China’s copyright expert to negotiate with WIPO and UNESCO before China accede to the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention, where he also negotiated about the U.S. and China intellectual property matter. Mr. QIU also worked for WIPO as a PCT examiner for more than a decade.

Mr. Anman QIU translated the Cultural Product and World Trade Organization and the Lexicography of English published by The Commercial Press, the oldest publisher of China. Mr. QIU also acted as the Chief Translator and Reviewer of Patent Law of Twelve Nations published by Tsinghua University, a translator and reviewer of the Collection of International Legal Documents of Copyright and Relevant Rights, and edited the Intellectual Property Dictionary published by China Encyclopedia Publisher. Mr. Anman QIU published more than 20 articles.