China

Open Innovation and Trade Secrets

A culture that can protect trade secrets is vital for innovative companies. Such a culture becomes especially important in collaborative innovation efforts where failure to protect trade secrets can severely damage partners and the offending company’s reputation.  Chinese companies are increasingly recognizing the value of what the West calls “open innovation.” In fact, forms of …

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Trade Secrets: Tips Given at the Global IP and Innovation Summit, Shanghai, Sept. 4-5, 2013

I had the privilege of speaking at the Global IP and Innovation Summit, Sept. 4-5, Shanghai, organized by Managing IP, an outstanding IP magazine. This was a terrific conference with about 300 participants, opened with a keynote from the Acting Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, Teresa Stanek Rea. I got to chat …

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The Burden of Counterfeiting, and Apple’s Clever Response to Fake Chargers

Among the many burdens entrepreneurs face is the outright theft of their IP by companies that specialize in ripping off others by making counterfeits or knock-offs. It’s a horrific problem in China, in spite of increasing enforcement efforts by authorities. Part of the problem is that the cost of being caught is relatively small, so …

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Innovation and Brands in China: Practical Lessons from Millward Brown’s 2013 Report on China’s Top 50 Brands

Brand management is essential in consumer products and many B2B products. Here in China, Asia Pulp and Paper has many brands in both areas such as the famous QingFeng brand of tissue paper. Especially in the retail market, brand value can explode or implode suddenly, depending on market conditions, actions of the brand owner, and …

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The West Remains Blind to China’s IP Engine

As China’s IP engine continues to power up, the West remains blind to what is happening here. China now leads the worlds in patents. China’s companies aren’t just doing junk patents filed as unexamined, low-cost utility model applications in China. Two of the top five international patent filers, filing expensive, examined, international patent applications, are …

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Getting More Innovation from Chinese Teams

So often I hear Westerners complain about innovation in China or about innovation from Chinese employees. There is a perception that Chinese people are great at following directions and working hard but poor at creativity and innovation. Yes, there is a cultural emphasis on respecting authority, following instructions, and sticking to one’s duties. There is …

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The Tragedy of Chopsticks: Getting Things Straight in China

As we’ve discussed previously on this blog, the West often gets things completely backwards when it comes to China, and the misunderstandings can be serious barriers to Asian innovators seeking global markets. The “Tragedy of Chopsticks” helps illustrate this. A few years ago while in the US, I became concerned about chopsticks in China. The …

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