First minister warns of China’s IP
Via the Herald, First Minister of Scotland Jack McConnell discussed the business risks of Scottish companies expanding into China in relation to IP:
“In music and games, there are real issues for global companies who are finding that what is about to become the biggest consumer society, which should be very open and available, is obviously affected by the growth of the black market,”
He went on to say:
“There are many issues for Scottish companies in China. … There are risks. I can understand why people might hesitate as a result.”
While Scottish firms could help minimise the risk of running into trouble by doing careful preparatory work, McConnell said the Chinese government also had to take responsibility for addressing the problem.
“It is not just our companies that have a challenge, the Chinese government has a challenge in creating the right legal framework to protect intellectual property.”
China catches a whole lot of flack for its IP regime, in part because it is such a huge market and thus its IP policy directly affects those that wish to do business there. This kind of talk by a Scottish politician reminds me that it isn’t just the US that criticizes China for its IP policy.
In the realm of US-China IP relations, the excellent Peter Yu of Michigan State University has two very good articles looking at Chinese IP and the political wrangling between the US and China over the latter’s IP policy:
- From Pirates to Partners (Episode II): Protecting Intellectual Property in Post-WTO China, 55 Am. U. L. Rev. 901 (2006) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=578585
- From Pirates to Partners: Protecting Intellectual Property in China in the Twenty-First Century http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=245548
These articles detail the weapons that the US has had at its disposal, such as Special 301 (which the Scots/Brits don’t have) and how China’s entrance into the WTO has affected its IP policy.
