Asia Pacific Legal Institute

... dedicated to the cooperation, education and exchange
of legal professionals between the United States and Asia.

The Asia Pacific Legal Institute (APLI) is a not-for-profit organization designed to promote comparative studies between the United States and Asia. It focuses on current international trade and intellectual property issues through educational programs, seminars, conferences, and delegation visits. The APLI is also designed to carry out its cooperation agreements with several major institutions and agencies in the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Through these agreements, the APLI is involved in the following ways: to establish an International Attorney Training Center in Beijing, China, to facilitate full-scale information, faculty and student exchange with China and Taiwan, and to provide a forum for policy dialogue among leaders in the industry, government, and academia.

The goal of APLI is to bring together leaders from the two sides of the world to share resources and investigate trade-related aspects of intellectual property problems. In an effort to coordinate positive international relations, the APLI has established strong ties with the People's Republic of China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan and continues to expand its relations with other countries throughout the region.

By coordinating international exchange programs and delegations, the APLI lays the foundation for future relations between the countries' intellectual property systems and expands cross-cultural understanding. Since its inception in 1994, the APLI has planned and administered four high-level delegation visits, nine international conferences, a complete summer training program, and twelve visiting scholar programs. Judges, practitioners, scholars, and industry representatives benefit from up-to-date information on the latest developments in the field.

In collaboration with the China/Asia Project of the Dean Dinwoodey Center for Intellectual Property Studies at the George Washington University Law School, the APLI has been invited by the U.S. government as the only academic institution to help carry out the February 26, 1995 agreement on intellectual property enforcement between the United States and China.

On the other hand, APLI is working closely with the Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Washington  in sponsoring its highly acclaimed annual Summer Intellectual Property Training Program and other projects. A major undertaking is Project Han-Fei, designed to systematically introduce the latest cases and commentaries on Chinese intellectual property law.

Outside interests in the organization's programs continues to grow. Currently over 80 organizations are actively working with the APLI to establish future cooperation in its exchange programs and delegations. Building on the spirit of understanding through cooperation" and "cooperation through exchange," the APLI is seeking support from all those interested in fulfilling our international commitment.

Your comments and thoughts on our programs and activities are very important to us. For more information, please write to: Asia Pacific Legal Institute, 4432 Prancing deer Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043-6785, or contact us at (410) 480-4895 (voice), (410) 480-4896 (fax), or apli@apli.org (e-mail).