IP Outreach Research > IP Use and Awareness
Reference
Title: | Studie des DIHK und des APM zu Produkt- und Markenpiraterie in China |
Author: | [Aktionskreis gegen Produkt- und Markenpiraterie], [Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag] |
Year: | 2007 |
Details
Subject/Type: | IP Protection |
Focus: | Commercialisation, Enforcement |
Country/Territory: | China |
Objective: | To assess how Germany-based businesses protect their intellectual property assets in China and to what extent they are affected by Chinese product/trademark piracy. |
Sample: | 600+ Germany-based companies doing business with/in China |
Methodology: | Survey |
Main Findings
German businesses reportedly not affected by counterfeiting tend not to register their intellectual property rights (IPR) in China: 79% of them reported that they had not registered their IP (only 21% stated that they had done so). Just 4% of those not registering their IP employ IP protection strategies other than IPR registration.
By contrast, 48% of businesses affected by counterfeits reported registering their IPR (52% did not). The bigger a company the more likely it is to have its IPR registered: while just one in four companies with fewer than 500 employees had their IP registered, two thirds of businesses with 500-1000 or 1000+ employees had their IP registered in China.
Measures taken in response to IPR violations also vary by firm size: firms with 1000+ employees rely on private investigators and lawyers, and/or apply with Chinese customs for export controls. Firms with 500-1000 employees contract lawyers or private investigators, and negotiate with the violator. Businesses with fewer than 500 employees mainly contract lawyers and negotiate with infringers.
The survey authors recommend that awareness raising measures be taken so that businesses register their IP assets, especially smaller ones. Otherwise, they will not be able to effectively respond to infringements. They need to realise that although registering IP assets has an immediate cost, possible losses due to counterfeiting can be much higher, even ruinous.
[Date Added: Nov 20, 2008 ]