Manufacturing beyond Shores: The Taiwanese Checklist Approach to Intellectual Property Protection

This report draws on the Taiwanese experience of working with Chinese firms and focuses on nonlegal measures for Intellectual property (IP) protection in light of declining predictability in the Chinese legal system. For U.S. small and medium businesses, the legal dimension of IP protection is accessible, and authoritative guidelines exist; however, if the legal system itself is unreliable, then more attention should be paid to practical tactics so as to avoid the use of Chinese courts. This report highlights the IP protection practices of Taiwanese companies in a checklist format to fill the gaps in understanding IP vulnerability in China.

General support to the author was provided by the East-West Center and the Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution