All Roads Lead to China™
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Doing Business in China > IPR Preventive Measures

For many manufacturers, their IP and investment in R&D is what leads them to develop unique products and product portfolios. It is a large reason why customers purchase one item over another, even if the price of that item comes at a premium. However, too often companies do not take the necessary steps to protect those assets. Maybe it is a feeling that the bar is too high, or that without the product being sold or manufactured outside of their market, that they are safe. Unfortunately, that just is not true anymore.

Patenting products, regardless of a companies intent to source, manufacture, promote, or sell needs to be debated within each company. Believing that a Chinese manufacturer (or a international manufacturer operating in China) will not infringe your products because your products have yet to enter the borders of China could lead a company to experience one or more of the scenarios above.

With internet technologies, trade fairs, and other means of gathering operations, gaining access to competitive intellignce has never been so easy, and that is why it is so critical that executives begin to realize the threats that do exist, the tools available to protect themselves, and the resources that are available.

Some of the steps that executives should take are:

1) Learn more about patents and patent laws in China (your U.S. patent does not apply). There is a lot of information on the web that is free, unbiased, and can offer valuable advice on why you need to worry about copyright, patent, or trademark infringement.
a - Visit websites: U.S. Department of Commerce; U.S. China Business Council, IP Protection in China
b - Blogs: China Law Blog; China IP Law Blog; IP Council Blog; J. Douglas Millar
c - Attend events hosted by: U.S. Commercial Service, World Trade Centers, industry associations, and others

2) Identify and speak with law firms, security consultants, and other manufacturers who are well versed in Chinese patent law
a - Law firms: Morrison & Foerster; Squire, Dempsey, and Sanders; King and Wood; and Others
b - Security Consultants: Control Risks, Hill & Associates, or Kroll

3) Develop a proactive strategy for protecting your patents:
a - Visit the Canton Fair or other trade shows in China to see whow your competitors are, and what they are selling
b - Search for competitors and competitive products online using Global Sources and Alibaba
c - conduct competitive intelligence research using market research firms and other consultants

4) Implement and follow through on that strategy!

5) Revisit, Review, and Revise your strategy as event and time dictate.

Quite often we can take for granted the work that has gone into building a product, the relationships necessary to sell it, and the infrastructure necessary to ensure after sales service. Years, if not decades, can go into the development of a product, by becoming complacent and thinking "it won't happen to me", manufacturers are inviting the fox into the den.

Taking proactive steps to protect one's assets in the global economy is essential for the successful ongoing concerns of operations for companies of all size, not matter where they are based, and no matter where their products are sold.

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