IPR week in China

In fact, China is lagging behind in software development due to IPR. It's not about English-language skills, it's not about technical capabilities (in hard skills sans apps integration, China can easily match India; only in soft skills like project management does India do better). For software developmnte sector, there is an adequate supply of English-capable engineers. What about cost issues? . It may not be as cheap in Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen as some American firms would like, but it's still cheap compared to numerous global alternatives, and let's not forget that BJ, SH and SZ are not the only options in China. So it's not about English or technical skills, or costs. It's really about IPR.IPR: A Real Concern in China; "IPR Week": IPR is recognized as the greatest bottleneck to innovation in China. To some (re: many Americans), China makes a good living by copying others. Now china's tech policy community think that up to what extent it can go on copying, china have to invent its own technology. China also knows that if it wants to attract FDI in high tech sectors, they have to prioritise the IPR issues, although foreign concerns are not the driving force behind advancements in IPR protection. So what's the driving force? Answer: Protection of domestic innovation, i.e., innovations by Chinese companies within China's borders. "IPR Week," on the other hand, is much more for show to Westerners. It was a report on a conference session held in Beijing that featured five companies from south China. Their topic: How Western firms abuse IP laws to keep Chinese companies off their domestic turf!! Bottom line: According to the Chinese, foreign companies and countries bully Chinese companies by taking advantage of their domestic court systems, challenging Chinese firms with Section 337 actions.Ok, this may be one way of looking at the world.One problem with IPR protection in China is a lack of awairness regarding IPR basics. Often Chinese firms are not able to recognise what is legal, what is illegal. For example (as this is good one), many Chinese companies really don't know that they can't use existing technologies still under patent protection to create a newer technology without paying royalties to the patent holders of the existing/core technologies. This absolutely stuns the Chinese. However, the biggest impediment to IPR protection has nothing at all to do with the WTO, WIPO, or the legal systems in China or the USA. Fact is, the greatest challenge to Intellectual Property protection in China is culture. The common consensus among mainlanders is that it will take few generations for Chinese to fully appreciate IPR. If a company want to enter the China market? Good for it. Yes it can do it without using Chinese service providers? It'is in for a big surprise. Sure,it can service MNCs in China without too much interference from some entity of the Chinese government. But if it has grander visions of broader market penetration, it might already know that there are unwritten rules to playing in the China market. Some American firms believe that they can best control their IP developed in China by running a captive operation. Probably true, although not likely the best way to start. ODCs - offshore development centers - are a better way to go. This is where the Jack Bauer analogy comes to mind. Security, security, security. Physical and data. Don't take any unnecessary chances. Chinese companies tend to rely on Rent-a-Cop guards and easily crackable access card. Sorry, but this isn't enough.Physical and data security is best ensured through a combination of CCTV video surveillance, biometric access control and verification systems, intrusion detection, perimeter protection, keyloggers, no removable media, restricted Internet access, document destruction, randomized polygraph testing, counter-eavesdropping and zero-day exploit shields. Sounds like something out of Ft. Meade? Perhaps. But most of these measures are a lot easier to implement than they may sound. The condition in India is also not much beter than China, but it is improving day by day. Because the recent data of NASSCOM and BSA reflects that the software piracy in India is fast reducing.