vice president cao, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

       good morning.

the 2007 bfsu intellectual property law moot court competition is a very meaningful activity, pointing a new direction in improving legal education. through this competition, participants not only can practice their english on judicial arguments, and comprehend the nature of ip law, but also improve their critical thinking as well as team work skills. this is a program that will greatly improve legal education in our country; therefore, my colleagues and i are happy to give our attention or support to such work. we hope this competition will be successful and we would like to see similar activities in the future.

the intellectual property protection system plays a significant role in promoting progress of science and technology, enriching culture and developing the economy. the vigorous developments of intellectual property protection as well as the need for establishing an innovation-oriented country require an abundant supply of well-trained professionals with fluent foreign language abilities, qualified legal training and exposure to modern technology. people with such multiple-capabilities are in great demand, not only in the government administrative and judicial ip protection sectors, but also in business sectors, research organizations, law firms and so on. they are also the best candidates for being judges in the ip rights related field. presently, intellectual property protection is an issue of universal concern in international political, economic, scientific, technological and cultural exchanges china's intellectual property strategy will create soon a great opportunity with rapid development of intellectual property protection. we can all grow with it. we must grasp this opportunity and hold on to the trend. we hope every participant here today will try hard and contribute their best. it is also our hope the bfsu law school can offer great assistance to china's ip rights judicial protection field, and supply talented students.

it is obvious that such a program, sponsored by the bfsu law school under the auspices of the supreme people’s court of china, intellectual property rights division, requires consorted efforts of many. without the support of the law school's administration, faculty and staff, this event would not be possible. while we cannot individually recognize all who contributed time and energy, we wish to give special thanks to dean wan men and professor x. david zheng. we would also like to extend our special thanks to all of the participants. your hard work, can-do attitude passion, and professionalism will result in brilliant work.

today this moot court competition involves topics on legal issues of trademark and patent infringement. this is a very interesting area. we welcome your participation and hope you all find the competition is enjoyable, professional, and full of challenge. we expect that each team will show the great skill and knowledge expected of a professional.

may this competition enjoy complete sucess!