The UW Asian Law Center and the Washington State China Relations Council hosted a seminar and reception on October 27th in downtown Seattle. Over 50 persons participated in the event which featured presentations on legal developments in East Asia.
Norwell Coquillard, the Executive Director of the Washington State China Relations Council and Tamara Lawson, Dean of the University of Washington Law School, made remarks to open the session.
Professor David Litt of Keio University spoke about the changing role of the judiciary in the debate concerning the opening of shuttered nuclear power plants in Japan. Professor Dongsheng Zhang of UW explored the status of privacy laws in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and emphasized how privacy protection in those countries often exceeds that in the U.S. For the evening’s final presentation, the head of the UW Asian Law Center, Professor Xuan-Thao Ngyuen, explained, putting political issues aside, how the legal system in China has been improved to promote innovation and help inventors and entrepreneurs to protect IP.
The event concluded with a networking session for the participants – many who had not participated in an event like this in a few years.