http://business.financialpost.com/2014/02/19/recourse-for-intellectual-property-theft-in-china-is-improving-but-new-risks-are-emerging/

Recourse for intellectual-property theft in China is improving, but new risks are emerging.

Dan Ovsey | February 19, 2014 7:30 AM ET
More frm Dan Ovsey | @DanOvsey
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Patent infringement and intellectual-property theft in China goes far deeper than cheap knock-off products. In some cases, the entire marketing and merchandizing of retail outlets is copied, like the imitation Apple store pictured here.

BirdAboard/AFP/Getty ImagesPatent infringement and intellectual-property theft in China goes far deeper than cheap knock-off products. In some cases, the entire marketing and merchandizing of retail outlets is copied, like the imitation Apple store pictured here. .Corporate espionage. IP compromise. Patent infringement. Call it what you will, but it all boils down to the same common denominator — theft.

That’s the message western governments have been sending to businesses interested in doing business in China, even while promoting the importance of engaging the emerging market as the newest frontier in export development and economic growth.

Last year, the U.S. government issued a scathing report on the state of U.S. intellectual property theft, which noted quite explicitly that “For a variety of historical reasons… as well as because of economic and commercial practices and official policies aimed to favor Chinese entities and spur economic growth and technological advancement, China is the world’s largest source of IP theft.”

China fundamentally does not believe in a Western-type rule of law system
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In quantifying the extent of the problem, the report estimated China is behind 50% to 80% of IP theft cases globally, costing the U.S. economy $300-billion every year and millions of jobs.

Washington isn’t alone in pointing fingers. Canada’s federal government, while making chummy diplomatic visits to Beijing and planting seeds for future bilateral trade agreements, asks Canadian business leaders to maintain a healthy degree of vigilance when doing business in China.

Take, for example, this excerpt from the transcript of a video developed by the Federal Trade Commissioner Service in China as an educational tool:

“Here are some problems your fellow Canadian companies have encountered: Example 1 – Someone registers your trademark. Yes, that is exactly how it sounds. You can no longer use your name in China. Not too much you can do about it either, except to scrap all that marketing material you just printed. Example 2 – Someone has copied your website. Word for word, photo for photo. Think your existing clients can tell the difference?”

The trade commissioner service also notes on its website that, “China fundamentally does not believe in a Western-type rule of law system and is becoming increasingly adept at implementing one only to the extent that it can help achieve domestic objectives.”

Just how risky it is to do business in China is difficult to quantify. Given the unreliable and often self-serving nature of China’s information system, the number of IP-theft incidents is difficult to ascertain. However, according to blog China IPR, China’s State Intellectual Property Office places the number of patent disputes in 2012 at 2,510. Of these, 2,232 were patent infringement disputes. Data gathered by the World Intellectual Property Organization places China at the top of its rankings for both the source and the destination of IP filings in 2013.

Alberto Galasso, a professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Management and Innovation, says the bulk of patent disputes in China are brought about by Chinese companies — not western companies — against other Chinese companies. It’s a trend he views as indicative of the Asian giant’s evolution toward a more sophisticated IP-protection regime.

“The surge in patent litigation suggests that Chinese companies are learning to use patents to defend their technologies against national and foreign competitors,” he wrote in an email to the Financial Post. “It is not unlikely that this greater use of patents will trigger legal changes that will render more effective the Chinese court system.”

Poet is working on getting this technology monetized for its shareholders, not for the government of China.

I think management will be very prudent with security.

Was it the good Dr. many years back who'd stated something to the effect of: even with all the patent documents nobody will be able to decipher poet tech?? At least I'm pretty certain Dr. T stated that.

Confirmation??

tnx

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