Do you think that IPR could become a form of protectionism imposed by the US? Could IPR affect China enough th

Question

Do you think that IPR could become a form of protectionism imposed by the US? Could IPR affect China enough that her trade would be seriously adversely affected or will low prices trump safety and quality issues?

Answer 1

Eventually the PRC is going to want to climb the development curve, so they might as well get with the IPR program now. It's not as if the Chinese want to make shoddy crap for low pay, but it's a stepping stone. Chinese factories can produce quality goods, they just need supervision. Mattel has pretty much said just that.

Answer 2

If Beijing government is smart enough, it can be the other way round. Currently, the lack of IPR is killing Chinese manufacturers. You know, any successful manufacturer in China will attract thousand of copycats from other part of the country. So this successful manufacturer cannot growth (from sales within China) big enough to compete in the international level. Then every body in China learns that it is important not to invent, but important to cut price and forget about quality.

This is the big picture. Having said that, there are meaning and useful inventions/patents applied by some big corporations in China, but the major competition are with copycats inside China, not with the 'evil force of protectionism' outside China. IPR protection is not enforce rigidity inside China, no matter the IPR owner is a local Chinese or foreign.