When China first opened its doors to international trade, 3 things were associated with a product that was made in China. Firstly, it was cheap. Secondly it was of poor quality, and thirdly, it was almost conceded that it would be copied at some point.

We all know that products are simply cheaper in China, and that in most cases the countries capability to produce quality items depends only on your own ability to manage your supplier. But what about intellectual property? Can you keep it in China?

The reason why China was the focus of the world for copying, didn’t stem from the suppliers themselves, rather from the rest of the world.

In most cases, copies of a product aren’t a result of suppliers actively searching for products to copy, rather they are presented with a product from an ‘outsider’ who is looking to make money from their cheaper manufacturing costs.

This doesn’t mean IP piracy does not exist, but you should treat the protection of your intellectual property as if you were in your own ‘western’ country.

To help protect your IP, here are our TOP 10 Infringement Risk Reduction Strategies:

- Agreement in Chinese law – Non Disclosure Agreement: Invest in a proven and practical Non Disclosure Agreement. To eliminate confusion ensure that it is in both English & Chinese. Click here to find out more.

- Patent Protection in your Target Market: Think about the markets you will be selling too, and apply for patent’s in those countries.

- Conduct Regular Audits: Regularly review your manufacturers operations to ensure they are not selling extra runs of your product, or dealing with your competitors.

- Flooding the Market: Offer your product to the market at a high volume and low cost. This can help to discourage copying.

- Key Components: Keep the manufacturing of key product components internal or separate from your main manufacturer.

- Own the Tooling: Purchase the tooling used for the manufacturing of your product. This means you can take it with you if the relationship with your supplier goes pear shaped.

- Include IP Clauses in Contracts: Always ensure that whenever a transaction is occurring, your IP is included in the agreements.

- Continuously Innovate: Always make sure you have something different and new in the pipeline (don’t just use the same model forever).

- Attend High Profile Sourcing Events: Trade fairs are a great opportunity for you to scout for copies e.g. Canton Fair.

- Seek Professional Advice: Experience within mainland China is key. Places like Hong Kong have slightly different laws.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!