Sharp Rise Seen in Chinese Patents

ianare writes "According to a report by the UN's intellectual property agency, the number of requests for patents in China grew by 33% in 2005 compared with the previous year. That gives it the world's third highest number behind Japan and the United States, the agency said. China's leaders have been urging companies to become more creative, and put more of their money into developing new technology. 'Made by China' rather than simply 'Made in China' will mean that the country's economic miracle stands a far better chance of lasting longer."

Creativity == Patent?

[biocute]

So filing and (maybe) getting patents granted equals creativity?

I think we have seen enough "Creative Patenting" that are comparable to "Creative Accounting".

How China is "competitive" on the global market

[pkbarbiedoll]

1) Force people to work for a pittance
2) Allow children to make toxic toys for Americans
3) No minimum hours per week, no overtime
4) IP theft
5) Lax environmental regulations

But most of all, at least relating to America's 850 billion dollar trade deficit (as of 2007), is the fact that China artificially lowers [npr.org] the Yaun [senate.gov] to appear more competitive on the global market. This practice alone has decimated U.S. manufacturing sector and is why we have a nearly 1 trillion dollar trade deficit - with no end in sight.

Level the playing field?

[pkbarbiedoll]

The playing field could be leveled by forcing China to stop artificially lowering [npr.org] the Yaun [senate.gov], which makes China appear more competitive on the global market. This practice alone has decimated U.S. manufacturing sector and is why we have a nearly 1 trillion dollar trade deficit - with no end in sight.

'Stolen By China' More likely

[JasperCraft]

I've talked to several people who have run into their own patents being rewritten in Chinese and patented in China by someone in China. Its amazing what they are allowing, simple google searches would reveal the patent is a copy and yet, seemingly totally legal. I wonder how many of this rise in patents is due to this policy/process/scam? However, as one of my language professors once said, translations are often creative.

Re:Why is this always seen as a threat?

[Fuzzums]

Ofcourse you realize that China here isn't the problem, but the IP system.
Do you think any African country has even the slightest chance against us or eu companies and the effect they have on regulations in general?

Re:Why is this always seen as a threat?

[iminplaya]

Don't know how Africa enters the picture, but China has all our money. They can do whatever they want, and soon will get pretty much anything they ask for. They've tasted the raw meat of western style consumerism, and will only want more. They will "protect their interests" in the same fashion we do ours. And they have the power to do it. I doubt we can say the same for Africa at the moment. The only clout they have is the choice to buy their weaponry from us(US and Europe) or Russia and China, which is a pretty big hammer as far as the arms dealers are concerned, but has nothing to do with the copyright/patent problem. However that does little to console the drug dealers(big pharma) when they claim "eminent domain" on their products to provide affordable medical care. Heh, now that I think about it, they could have an effect on policy, but in that case, a good one.

Re:Why is this always seen as a threat?

[Fuzzums]

My point was like this: For years we're protecting our markets against cheap products. Products from China, products from Africa.

China somehow has managed to break through our protections (and we shouldn't whine if they're going to protect their markets, because that's exactly what we did too).

The other side of the coin is that African (and South-American countries aswell) produce a lot of goods, but we're protecting our markets so they don't get any opportunity to sell their products for a fair price.

But as long as economy is mainly a local thing we'll keep seing this, I think.