Not sure what happened with the title change in your post. Somehow in the loading process it must have got changed, but I can’t explain or determine the details of why. This one has me scratching my head. Do know that said change was inadvertent. I made the change.

I don’t disagree that the Chinese mindset is opposed to the respect of IP rights. As the Catherine Sun points out, the idea is to work with the government who is willing to protect your rights *when* they are infringed upon. It is inevitable to see copies and knockoffs on the market. But if you take the administrative enforcement route, for example, simple product comparison can be enough to warrant government crackdowns that even involve raids, all within a short timeframe. Hopefully, we see that the point isn’t necessarily to change the mindset, but rather to show foreign (and consequently local) businesses that IP is indeed enforceable in China, and also that patents need to be registered with the government in order to have any chance of protecting your IP rights. The mindset will change as the consequences of infringement make IP theft too costly to be profitable.

if you disagree with my last statement, then i will write more about why i believe so.

My partner at first was against going to China to have parts made. I on the other hand was all for it. I am concerned about that same thing he is but I feel that if the appropriate steeps are taken, ie. get patents/trademarks here ins the US and china., but then again I am a very trusting person. After talking with some business people who have done business in China we were feeling better about having our products made over there. One person just told use about some recent labor union disputes that might affect things over these and now we again in question. Our decision to go to china is still months away and I will continue to talk with people who have experience over there. The one thing that we know we must do if we are going to go over there is to have all the IP in place before we make any moves. That is the only safety net you can have and it is vital do doing business anywhere.

IP law is not a Western made up law to benefit foreign companies. IP concept is equivalent to real estate deed, tabgible property right. A society or country without such would face thieves and discourage competition. At the end a country’s IP law really benefits itself.

As China’s industry matures, especially as its companies transform from labor intensive to R&D intensive (inevitable due to increase in quality of life, environmental liability, added value chait, etc), IP law must take place in that country. Its industry themselves will demand so.

Gary Chou