Chinese President Vows To Boost Intellectual Property Protection (afr.com)

hackingbear writes: In the opening of China's first import-themed trade fair, President Xi Jinping promised tougher penalties for intellectual property theft, a key concern of the Trump administration, in front of leaders and executives from 3,600 companies from more than 170 countries. China has been steadily advancing intellectual property protection over the years. In addition to filing twice as many patents as the U.S. in 2017, up nearly 14 folds from 2001, it is also increasingly being selected as a key venue for patent litigation by non-Chinese companies, as litigants feel they are treated fairly as foreign plaintiffs won the majority of their patent cases in 2015 (though that likely attracts patent trolls). China's journey from piracy to protection models the journeys of the U.S. which had blatantly violated intellectual properties in building its modern industry.

Comments

But..

[Errol backfiring]

It's a good thing that there is no such thing as "Intellectual Property".

Re:But..

[Errol backfiring]

There is copyright, patent law, etc. But "intellectual property" is just a term coined by people who want it to be a general system to forbid unpaid thoughts. The more people repeat it, the more people think it actually exists. It does not.

#1 thing they need to do

[jonwil]

The #1 thing they need to do if they are serious about combating IP theft is to stamp out all the bootlegging that goes on in their country.

LEGO have recently won a court case against a major Chinese bootlegger but other than a minor fine and possibly a need to redesign or stop selling a few products (out of the many bootleg products they currently make and sell around the world) it wont do a thing to stop the knock-offs.

Enforcement action by the government and its agencies to shut down the bootlegging (of everything from LEGO to designer bags to golf clubs to baby formula) would be the single biggest thing the Chinese government could do to show the world that it is serious about respecting intellectual property rights.

Words are cheap.

[Gravis Zero]

I'll believe it when I see them actually enforcing this. Besides, the Chinese government doesn't consider it theft when they take it because they have laws that compel you to comply. Got a factory in China? Yeah, it's at least 51% owned by the Chinese so that (surprise!) they can insist that all IP be handed over.

Nothing is changing here, it's just words. The idea here is to fool Xi's US counterpart.