Atlanteknology - Technology News for Atlantic Canada

Intellectual Property Law in China

Virtually everyone is looking west or east (depending on your geographic location in the world) towards China and its continuing emergence as a global economic power.  There is no question in my mind that, in twenty or so, China will be dominating the world economically and perhaps geopolitically.  Pax Americana will be but a fading memory.

All that aside there are tremendous economic opportunities for businesses in China.  However, there are also obstacles and pitfalls.  One of the areas of concern is with respect to the protection of intellectual property.  A few statistics (what article is useful without statistics?):  There were over 1,000,000 new trade-mark and patent application filed in China in 2005. The number of patent applications was over 475,000.  This level of activity is on par with both the European Office and the USA Patent and Trade-mark Office.

This is all well and good. However, there are the pitfalls - enforcement remains the primary issue in China.  Also of concern is the ability to obtain damage awards in cases where intellectual property infringement is proved.  Having said all that, intellectual property protection is becoming increasingly important in China for a variety of reasons including membership in that so-called holy grail of economic ascendance - the WTO. China has been working towards revision of it's laws with respect to intellectual property protection.  Moreover Chinese courts have been clarifying the interpretation of China's intellectual property laws all of which help top foster an environment which is more conductive to trade and commerce.

 

The Chinese response to change (in the sense of legislative change and/or macroeconomic change) has been somewhat (and continues to be somewhat) mixed. For example, China has recognized the problems with and is dealing with spam and illegal text messages (view article here). On the other hand, China is having a rough go of it with respect to such issues as reform of real property (land) law (view article here). Socialism and capitalism are, as is evident, still finding it difficult to be bedfellows.

At the end of the day (to use an old saying ) you should be looking towards China as an opportunity but should also be aware of the risks associated with that opportunity. With your eyes open, you can plan for and attempt to minimize the risks

Entrepreneurs' Forum

There is an entity here in Nova Scotia (it may exist elsewhere in some format or another) called the Entrepreneurs' Forum.

The purpose of the organization is to bring entrepreneurs before advisers (who are all volunteers) to explain their business model and to receive constructive commentary.

I participated in my first forum recently and had the opportunity to work with Ayse Dai-Gammon, the client co-ordinator of the Forum. She has a fascinating background (she was a mergers and acquisitions lawyer for an international law firm in Istanbul, Turkey before immigrating to Canada) and her enthusiasm is obvious.

At the forum was another first time adviser, David Eisnor. David works for the Centre for Entrepreneurship, Education and Development, an organization I had, sadly, never heard of. It looks like it is yet another excellent resource available to entrepreneurs and start-up companies.

There are many resources available to you, the business people of the Atlantic provinces. Sometimes (as I have discovered) some of them are right under your nose and remain unknown to you until some event brings them into your field of view. I will keep my eyes and ears open for other hidden treasures!

Patent Auctions

I read an interesting article in the February 13, 2006 issue of Business Week.  A gentleman by the name of Dean Becker has, in my opinion, a brilliant idea - selling patents via auction.  This April, Ocean Tomo will have its first auction at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco where it will sell off rights to everything from earth imaging technology to shrink wrap.  As Mr. Becker correctly notes in the article, patents, patent licensing, and patent selling have traditionally been high priced and often arduous endeavours. 

Not so for Ocean Tomo's patent auction it seems. So far, according to the article, more than 1,200 patents have been submitted to Ocean Tomo for sale from such companies as AT&T, Bell South, American Express, and Kimberly Clarke.  Also up for sale are 48 patents filed by one William L. Rebber, an engineer formerly with Walt Disney Co. and Motorola Inc.

I do not know whether this concept will succeed but I certainly hope that it does.  The original intent of patent law was to give inventors certain rights over their invention in exchange for divulging the facts of the invention to the world.  However, in today's business climate, patents have become a tool and a weapon used by large corporations to intimidate and block their competitors.  Perhaps this auction process will assist the public (in its broadest sense) in regaining some of the balance.  Hopefully it will also encourage individuals (as opposed to corporations) to go through the process of patenting things that they have invented but have felt too scared to do anything with.

Business Statistics

The following links to statistics are courtesy of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

Armed with knowledge, we make better decisions. Enjoy.

The Greater Halifax Partnership - Economic Snapshot
Statistics Canada
Nova Scotia Department of Finance
Canada/Nova Scotia Business Service Centre
Halifax Regional Municipality- Agendas

Intel's Itanium Chip - Get on the bandwagon?

A group of technology companies has pledged $10 billion between now and 2010 to encourage adoption of Intel's Itanium processor, which, to date, has failed to meet expectations that it would capture a large portion of the server market.

The companies that are or will contribute to the effort are Intel, HP, Unisys, Silicon Graphics Inc., NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, and Groupe Bull. All are members of a group called the Itanium Solutions Alliance, which counts other companies including Microsoft, Red Hat, Novell, and Oracle as members. The money pledged will go toward research and development, marketing, and other efforts to help software companies develop applications that take advantage of the Itanium processor.

Here is the rub: Tom Kilroy, general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, noted that there is "a $140 billion opportunity on hardware," which itself is "dwarfed by the opportunity in software and services."

Opportunities for companies in the Atlantic Provinces?