Well, I was about to make a post briefing all the previous discussions for a few weeks to clarify many issues.
I just needed to verify my lawyers words as well as find some official announcements. So, here we go:



1st Issue: Do not blame the Chinese:

As this brilliant article states,

"With the exception of certain government-sponsored works and immoral materials, copying was not unlawful
under early Chinese law. To the contrary, it was encouraged as an important way to educate the populace.
Confucian thought, with its focus on society over the individual, looked down upon the realization of personal profit
from creative or academic endeavors. This further distanced Chinese culture from the concept of intellectual property."

"China’s recent history has produced a poor legal system. Mao believed that laws hurt society because they focused on
individual rights. Consequently, the government did not prioritize development of the law and legal training until China
reopened to the world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In effect, China’s current legal system has only operated for
about twenty-five years. Because of the lack of trained lawyers, judges were initially appointed directly from the Chinese
Communist Party and had very little, if any, legal training."

The first two sections are a nice read. The rest are only good if you wish to file a patent in China LOL



2nd Issue: Is there anything done about all this? The answer is a big YES!

The new Chinese law regarding patents in China, will take effect from 1st October 2009.
You may read details here:
http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/news/L ... 469484.htm

Therefore, the only challenge left for China, a country realising that lack of investment would be very much felt,
is to fight the corruption within them. But this seems to also be a matter of time, especially as China tries
very hard to improve their "lost face" to foreign businesses when it comes to the 9,571(!!!) cases of patent disputes
and the 11,639(!!!) cases of patent infringement.




Sure, that does not mean we should already sleep sound, but it will definitely alarm all those copycats.
Their time to pay is coming soon, and this time, no "culture excuses" may be used!
I mean, if I was a Chinese manufacturer, and I was about to do business with overseas partner, I would
*surely* make sure I know the international laws to which China is an integral part.
Most notably, the Patent Cooperation Treaty ("PCT" which also applies for my Cubedron and Krystalledron),
and bringing China's Patent Law into compliance with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
("TRIPS") Agreement.


Good news, but we still must be patient and see how the local reaction is going to be.




Pantazis

This is GREAT news!
Thanks for posting this.

So don't release anything new until after October 1, 2009.

LOL!

The laws are already there, but they were quite loose with many loopholes.
The new change will ensure any future as well as past infringements will be taken care
and they will clear up all compensations issues which were sort of gray area.

The only thing is that we really need to see that happening in practice.




Pantazis

Thanks for posting this!



Surely some Chinese are to blame.



A case can be made that they deserve the loss of face. People remember the article published in the USA at the end of Deng Xiao Ping's visit in the 1970's. It was an elequent "unofficial" statement of China's position regarding their then-recent entry into trade with the rest of the World. It was evident at that time that China fully understood what they were getting into.

Their present-day awareness of the issue was shown in the warning the Chinese Government put out to their populace of dire consequences awaiting those who would counterfeit their 2008 Olympic Games gear. This showed that they fully understand what "rights" and counterfeiting are all about. They need to enforce the law in all cases and not just their own.

David J

*

I think that he was referring to not blaming the chinese as a whole, but only the copiers.

I hope this doesn't mean that the floppy cube won't come out until then.

I could not assume he meant it that way although I thought he might have. He made no distinction there, whereas such distinctions were specified in the rest of the material.

*

The laws already exist for decades, but they had never been applied properly. The new laws will allow that,
which means that anyone who copies now, will also be liable for his actions later on too!

This fact, is used to underline that Chinese also need to respect the other nations. Their culture,
did not encourage individuals in the past, but now, three decades later, it is expected that the
message is well known, and no more excuses are allowed.

Let us put it this way. If they want to do business only locally, they can do anything they want.
But if they want to expand to the rest of the world and share the business and financial benefits.
they need to adjust their policies. Enough is enough.

Chinese *know* the laws, and as correctly stated, they didn't want the rest of the world (or even locals!!!)
to copy their Olympic Games merchandise, something which was respected (by the rest of the world).

They copy, but they don't want to be copied. It is an irony isn't it?




Pantazis

I read the article. Kinda makes me feel bad about the things I said previously regarding China in another thread. I hope everything gets worked out in the end.