Suchergebnisse

From the shopping mall to the corner bistro, knockoffs are everywhere in today's marketplace. Conventional wisdom holds that copying kills creativity, and that laws that protect against copies are essential to innovation - and economic success. But are copyrights and patents always necessary? This book argues that creativity can not only survive in the face of copying, but can thrive.

Once the home of gunpowder, printing, and other transformational inventions, China is today better known for its knockoffs of almost every imaginable product: cars, clothes, computers, fast food, movies, pharmaceuticals, even entire European villages. For US policymakers and American executives, the scale and scope of copying in China are bad enough; worse yet is the fact that it is encouraged by an official Chinese policy of indigenous innovation. Intellectual property law remains a relatively new phenomenon in a society that is highly focused on expanding economic growth and maintaining social stability. Chinese attitudes and practices toward copying cannot be expected to change quickly. As China's economy advances further, perhaps the balance of interests will shift, and the country might adopt a less permissive approach. In the meantime, it is critical to keep Chinese copying in perspective and recognize its upsides along with its costs. Adapted from the source document.