China IP Reality
From China Esquire:
China has been trying to crack down on intellectual property violations for some time now. (a friend of mine used to do this sort of stuff for a living and he has some exciting stories) That being said, it seems that to the west (and not just America), China can never win. It’s IP enforcement is never good enough.
Tom Chow, welcome to my world. Misery loves company, and trying to explain why IP enforcement is now much better in China compared to the state things were in several years ago is a thankless task. Furthermore, explaining how some of the statements made by the trade associations can actually set back the political debate can be dangerous for us practicing lawyers.
People prefer a black and white, good vs. evil approach. IP enforcement policy is much more complicated, however, and it helps to have a little more sanity out there.
I agree with you. I don’t know how many people I still run into today who think that China has no IP laws, or if it does, has no enforcement. It boggles my mind sometimes.
But yes, I agree with you on the trade associations. They are using the same campaign re: China that they used re: piracy in America, which actually found a modicum of success here. I just don’t think it will work there so well.
Whilst I also find a lot of what the trade associations say hard to swallow, and I’m certainly aware that the protection of registerable IP for companies operating in China has been much improved over the past few years, it’s somewhat of a stretch to say that the lax enforcement is not a vast problem for western industry. Some 79% of all EC customs cases involving the seizure of counterfeit goods are sourced to China, and 81% of those entering the US – although these stats should be treated with some caution.