Intellectual property rights considerations for US software firms with business interests in China

Abstract

US technology firms have ventured into the Chinese market over the past couple of decades only to find that their potential market opportunities have been sharply curtailed by governmental, social, technology adoption and competitive barriers that they did not anticipate or that they were too quick to dismiss as non-consequential. In this paper, we highlight some of the challenges faced by US software firms with business interests in China. After outlining the major issues faced by these firms and a pithy survey of the relevant academic literature, we delve into our main research question, to-wit: how can US software firms profitably operate in China without compromising their IP portfolios and stem the losses from piracy and other emerging threats?