China Sourcing

Virtually every western business is either considering the outsourcing of all of their labor intensive manufactured products to China or is currently doing so. There are property aspects of this process that are driven by technology in terms of the business evaluation of the advantages and the disadvantages of outsourcing to China, how to protect the proprietary rights, and how to maintain the protection of trade secrets that should be considered. Therefore, frequently stolen technology will be used by businesses in China although the conventional techniques of trademark infringement actions and border enforcement can definitely be used in some situations where the technology has been stolen. When an exact product is reproduced by trademark infringement actions and border enforcement should be used.

There is no target in the United States that is too large for China to take on. In fact, there are some of the most highly visible and spectacular United States product launches in China such as a brand new automobile model that the counterfeit automobile might be launched in China prior to the genuine article is launched in the United States. The release of the counterfeit Chevrolet by a Chinese business partner of General Motors happened prior to the official General Motors launch of the genuine Chevrolet.

Therefore an analysis of the intellectual property that is changing in China needs to be conducted. There are numerous situations where some cutting edge technology areas are borne by simply by bearing the extra cost of manufacturing the product locally in order to protect the trade secrets as a result of outsourcing to China.

There needs to be a portfolio of the intellectual property rights prior to the consideration of the enforcement of patents. The methodology of these enforcement measures needs to be reconsidered in order to protect the production lines in the Chinese factories. There needs to be a budget for marketing for the enforcement methods and for public relations that should be built right into the business equation so that the goal of litigation is to stop the infringement rather that simply damaging the infringement.

These enforcement measures that are taken by officials of the United States are the best protection that can be afforded to consumers in the United States. Obviously, the intellectual property problems for most manufacturers should come first. One of the best solutions to this problem is to create a Chinese administration that is controlled better for manufacturing.

In addition, copyrights are also important although the focus seems to be on trademark protection against counterfeiters, trade secrets, and patents. As sophistication within the Chinese law and business community continues to grow, the business strategy of the Chinese is becoming ever increasingly complex. Therefore, this type of piracy will definitely require a competition structure that is more complex.

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