LICENSING AGREEMENTS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.

The Effect of Globalization in relation to the Weak Record of Intellectual Property Rights in China



The Effect of Globalization in relation to the Weak Record of Intellectual Property Rights in China

The recent forces of increasing globalization have forced China to reform their intellectual property stance to become competitive in the new global economy. Prior to the 1970s, China had intellectual property systems that were flawed and relatively powerless to provide any real protections to individual inventors. (Chow, 2007)

Throughout history, each generation has experienced unique political, economic, and social forces. Interplay between these dynamic elements form the centerpiece of establishing any nation state. Striving to meet the basic needs and comforts of their citizens, these states for the most part remained free-standing. However, this century has been marked by unprecedented technological changes that enable a worldwide connectedness. While this idea referred to courier mail or travel in the past, nowadays the worldwide web, mobile communications, and mass media link individuals. The economic implications of such global associations are serious. Economic progress has often been tied to technological progress. Ensuring such progress necessitates an effective patent system, which essentially is progress appearing in law. Developing nations have confronted the predicament of economic progress with little success. In the case of China, decades of feeble patent policy and intellectual property laws blocked such progress. Only recently due to the arm of globalization have these nations seriously pursued a strong patent system, planting the seeds for future economic success. (Bhattacharya, 2002)

The government in a developing country may be set up against the idea of intellectual property at the outset. If a government's conception of what is good for its citizens does not include private intellectual property protection, it clearly will have a resultant weak patent system. A primary example of such government is the communist Chinese government before and during Chairman Mao's leadership. The communist rhetoric exalted the idea of collectivism and the value of the publicly owned property. In this government conception, granting individual private property was not only frowned upon, it was taken by the state for public usage. Aptly put, “communism discourages individual property” (D'Antico). It can only be expected that intellectual property would not be protected, but rather be made accessible to the public for use. This naturally lent itself to a weak intellectual property system with little to no enforcement of individual rights and claims to novel ideas.

Cultural dynamics set against securing ownership of private property in developing countries also will lead to a weaker patent system. China is another example of such a dynamic playing itself out in a developing country. The Chinese cultural opinion on being entitled to your own ideas at the exclusion of others has been relatively low. Imitation and copying is viewed as a form of compliment rather than disrespect in this culture. In this the cultural standard is correctly assessed by experts in that the “Chinese view copying as flattery” ...