Does Changsha Windows of the World Infringe Angry Birds' IPRs

The online game Angry Bird is a hit but as China Hearsay's Stan Abram notices not only online. He is asking whether the software developer of Angry Birds, Rovio, should not become well, angry when its IPRs are being infringed in China (most probably also at the Windows of the World Park in Changsha, Hunan province). Read Stan's article here.

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China's Exports Moved Up the Value Ladder, EIU Report Underlines Dragons at the Door Thesis

Exports no longer only from coastal provinces
Photo:  Danny Friedmann

'Heavy duty, China's next wave of exports', is a insightful concise report (17 pages) from the Economist Intelligence Unit. It sheds light how the Chinese equipment manufacturing industry is climbing the value ladder. The first waves of exports were dominated by textiles and electronics and took place in the coastal provinces. The manufacturing for this coming export wave takes place in China's hinterland (for example Sany, Zoomlion, Sunward from Changsha, Hunan province, before Xugong from Xuzhou, the coastal province Jiangsu was most prominent in construction-equipment manufacturing), and as of 2012 it will not be driven by foreign direct investment but by domestic companies. Whether this shift in export activity from the coast to the hinterland is enough to bridge the gap in income inequality remains to be seen. The majority of the exports go to developing countries, or so called non-members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2012.

The report reads like the empirical support of professors Williamson and Ming's great book Dragons at your door, see IP Dragon's Book Review. Because although the report makes clear that the developing countries  mostly prefer low technological solutions, it also tells that it gives the Chinese manufacturers, that use innovation to produce at lower costs and offer more variety, the economies of scale so that the Chinese companies can offer higher technological solutions to more developed markets later on and become formidable competitors of companies such as Caterpillar. In other words the companies in the OECD can expect some enormous competition in a not too far future, and they should ask themselves some strategic questions, such as:

• Can we afford to stay out of these emerging markets that will make giants of our Chinese competitiors?
• Should we try to be more innovative by making a more sophisticated product or should we try to be more innovative by making the product in a more sophisticated way and by doing so, make the product cheaper and in more varieties?
• How can we harness these innovations in patents?

Read the EIU report here (after registration free pdf)

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Yao Ming Wants To Reign Supreme Over Yao Ming Era

Photo Danny Friedmann
Story for the Sunday (星期日) 

Xinhua reported that Yao Ming, the tallest basketballer in the NBA, who has a contract with Reebok to wear their products, sued Wuhan Yunhe Dashayu Sportswear Co., Ltd for allegedly printing in Yao Ming's handwriting 姚明 一代 (Yao Ming Yi Dai) which means Yao Ming era or Yao Ming Era in English on shoes and apparel, see picture here. It was said that Yao Ming Yi Dai is popular in Hunan and that the alleged infringer wants to sell it nationwide.

Yao Ming registered his name as a trademark in several fields in 2002. However, Xinhua wrote that other "companies and individuals have registered Yao-Ming-related trademarks in China, like Yao Ming World, Yao Ming Empire, Yao Ming Rockets etc. Most of these trademarks are not printed on products."

Hopefully Yao Ming's era as basketball player is not coming to a close, since the Houston Rockets center is recovering from an ankle that could turn out his Achilles' heel. 

Read Chen Zhi's Xinhua article here.

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Say My Name Say My Name ...No Domain Name For Individuals In China

January 30th, 2010, Verna Yu wrote an interesting article for the South China Morning Post: 'Upset Net Users Show Their Discontent On Censor's Website'. Ms Yu wrote that the website of the government's internet censor in Hunan was attacked by hackers, that were, allegedly unhappy applicants for website approval.

The article explains that in China different levels of communication administrations act as supervisory authorities. For example: Sina.com needed about 10 different licenses from different government authorities for providing their range of internet services.

There is a recent regulation that prohibits to host individually owned websites. Only business licensed or government authorised websites can register domain names in China. The Chinese government said that this measure was taken to rein in the spread of pornography, but some allege the reason is to control the flow of information.

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