Sunday, October 17, 2010

Acrobats Show The Way of Doing Business in China: Register IPRs and Join Competition (No Need To Be Contortionist Though)

You have to have courage when you come to China, the cradle of incredible acrobatics, and vie for attention for your own acrobatic performances. Cirque du Soleil lacks no self-confidence, meticulously prepared and is now ready for any competition. Nick Rockel wrote an article for Canada TV (CTV) how the world renowned Canadian performances company is not only using its talents for its acrobatics (including local talent), but also for doing business in China: 'Cirque du Soleil draws on China's deep well of talent.'

Mr Rockel quotes Sarah Kutulakos, Executive director and Chief Operating Officer, Canada China Business Council: "But I do find that many companies take a bit of a myopic approach to it, saying, ‘I don’t want to go to China. Somebody will copy me.’ Your product is on the international market. If they want to copy you and your product is good, they’re going to go buy one and reverse-engineer it and copy it anyway. So get to China, register your IP, and work in a very competitive environment, because it will make you stronger."

Or as Friedrich Nietzsche's put it: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

IP Dragon concurs, in this time and age it is increasingly more difficult to keep your inventions and innovations secret. Next to intellectual property rights, the first mover advantage and continuously improving the product or service is the key to consolidating and expanding market share. Talented football players that are not playing any competition matches because they are afraid for injuries, will not reach their full potential. Registering IP is like playing with protective shin guards and a referee.

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