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No IP Enforcement In China. That Cannot Be True.

By Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson

Spoke with a client today regarding IP protection in China. I gave my usual speech on China's protection of intellectual property, which, very briefly summarized, goes something like this::

IP protection in China is admittedly not that great, but it is better than widely portrayed. If you are selling movies on DVD or software on CD, then it is every bit as bad as you have no doubt heard. If you want to register and then enforce your patent there, do not expect your protections to be as good as the United States. But one thing we should very seriously talk about is how we can help protect your technology in China through trade secret/confidentiality agreements and through trademarks, both of which have a pretty good record of being enforced in China.

My client then said he has heard the Chinese courts never enforce patents held by foreigners. I told him that though patents are definitely not as strong in China as in the United States, the idea that foreigners can never protect their patents in China is just not true. A few hours later, an article, entitled, British victory in China as patents dispute boils over showed up in my email box. The gist of the article is in its first sentence: "The British company whose founder invented the kettles that switch off automatically when they boil has had China patents win." The British company is Strix, whose founder John Taylor, invented the "kettle control" and who, today, makes most of its products in Guangzhou, China. Strix learned that two Chinese companies were copying its China patented technology and it sued those companies and was just awarded USD $1.5 million against them by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. Of equal importance is that the Court froze defendants' "liquid assets, including the bank accounts" at the commencement of the lawsuit a year ago, pretty much ensuring Strix will be able to collect its judgment. So next time someone says China never enforces patent rights held by foreigners, you tell them that cannot be true.

Full post as published by China Law Blog on February 01, 2010 (boomark / email).