Author(s)
Jeffrey F. Levine
Source
Texas Review of Entertainment & Sports Law, Vol. 9, pg. 203, 2007
Summary
This student note looks at how sports teams and other organizations can protect their intellectual property in China.
Policy Relevance
Chinese culture affects intellectual property rights enforcement in China. Local relationships will be important to firm's efforts to work in Chinese markets.
Main Points
- Chinese intellectual property law still has some gaps; it has no right of publicity. It also has some rights other nations do not have. China has created numerous agencies charged with enforcing IP.
- Judicial enforcement is of four types: civil, criminal, economic, and administrative. Each has a role in IP.
- The new Chamber of Intellectual Property Adjudication should reduce errors due to judicial unfamiliarity with intellectual property concepts and treaties.
- Chinese law is mostly statutory law. Published case law is rare.
- Chinese values include the concepts of cooperation, togetherness, and harmony. Emphasis on IP as individual exclusive property might not be persuasive.
- The concept of “shaming” might help support intellectual property rights.
- Chinese society is skeptical of law, which it considers too rigid, and extra-legal mechanisms must be developed to protect IP assets. Local relationships with people in firms and government are essential to secure cooperation. One must create social capital and use it prudently.
