http://fortune.com/2019/03/01/china-ip-theft/ This is a Fortune article from March 01. The forced IP transfer and theft issue is real and it is serious for US Companies. One in Five U.S. Companies Say China Has Stolen Their Intellectual Property A new CNBC poll finds that one in five corporations say China has stolen their intellectual property within the last year. Intellectual property, or IP, theft has been a major contentious issue in trade talks between the Trump administration and China. IP theft—use of patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights without permission—may seem dry to many. But it represents big money. Intangible assets, which include IP, make up 80% of the value of S&P 500 companies, according to the Harvard Business Review. IP theft may not seem the same as taking physical property, but it represents either a loss of opportunity or of competitive advantage that reduces the money a company could have made. The U.S. Trade Representative has estimated the annual loss to China at between $225 billion and $600 billion, according to CNN. There are different ways Chinese companies reportedly obtain U.S. IP. Corporate espionage and cyberattacks are two, according to Axios. But so is forced technology transfers, in which the Chinese government compels companies investing in China to provide IP details and licenses. The Trump administration has delayed additional tariffs that were supposed to go into effect March 1 because of progress in trade talks. But it is unclear whether there has been any progress on IP issues.
Thankfully we finally have a POTUS who is going to end the fleecing of America and its great companies MAGA
Should have been dealt with a decade ago. But it is hard, unpopular, inconvenient, risky, and takes balls.
Honestly don't know why those companies tolerated with the forced technology transfers all these years. That is downright extortion and highway robbery if you ask me. If I were those companies, I would've turned right around and go to another country to open my shop. China is not the only country that has massive cheap and intelligent labour. WHY did those companies comply and stay?
We love to think of the potentials of selling products to 1.5 billion people and often am willing to give up some IP to get it. India is playing with the same playbook.
And well underestimated China's ability to copy and make it their own and sell it for 50% cheaper and refuse to pay royalties to the original patent/copyright/trademark holders. Trump shouldn't just impose the tariffs; he should also sponsor those 1 in 5 companies who had IP stolen from China to launch lawsuit against China for unpaid royalties on their IP.
But it's not codified in US law or any international law. China is not the world even though it thinks it is.
I don't think IP rights is spelled out in traditional (old) Chinese legal systems. Their traditional way to protect IP is to keep it a trade secret. Copying is a form of compliment, acknowledgement that you are better.