IP and Innovation in China

Few Westerners ever learn that the world’s first
mass-produced book made with movable type was not Gutenberg’s Bible, but the Nong Shu, a massive book of innovation
from China
printed a century before Gutenberg’s triumph. Western blindness to Chinese
innovation remains an ongoing problem. In spite of blossoming trade,
communication, and cultural exchanges, Western understanding of China often remains trapped in old paradigms
that hinder collaboration and jeopardize joint ventures, R&D efforts, or
other business dealings in China.
For example, the current Renaissance of innovation and intellectual property
creation in China is often
unrecognized in the West, where China
may be viewed as simply a good copier with little potential for creativity.

China
has just become the world leader in patent filing. China has companies rising
to be world leaders in internationally filed patent applications, and is
investing remarkable amounts of money in leading-edge R&D, yet Western
pundits continue to dismiss China as relatively uninnovative with low-quality
IP and a shameful lack of brands in the West (not realizing that for many
Chinese entrepreneurs, the huge and more accessible Chinese market is
opportunity enough for now). Massive opportunities may be lost through such
blindness.

Western metrics and norms often obscure the level of
innovation in China,
perpetuating a blindness that harms both East and West. Further, Western
companies working in China
and seeking to collaborate often fail to tap the business and innovation
potential of the Chinese due to misunderstandings of Chinese culture, society, law,
and history. Further, Western nations sometimes add unnecessary new burdens to
Chinese enterprises with punitive trade barriers, sudden changes in
regulations, and other measures that often hurt both parties. These are among
the many “innovation fatigue factors” that Chinese companies and innovators may
face.

Clayton Christensen’s model of disruptive innovation for
products can be applied to the macroscopic realm of innovation itself to interpret
the reaction of the West as the archetypal incumbent. As low-cost, initially
“inferior” (by Western standards) innovation and IP emerges from China, the West
has a tendency to downplay the threat (or opportunity) and instead touts its
higher-quality patents and high-end innovations and brands. Meanwhile, China is
rapidly learning and is adding new skills to its powerful abilities in rapid
market entry, iterative adaption of goods, supply chain innovation, efficient
manufacturing, and rapid adoption of technology. Newly strengthened skills
include IP creation, new product development, design, marketing, and branding
that will eventually result in waves of successful Chinese products and brands
entering the western markets in addition to recognized western brands that are
really based on Chinese innovation and IP. This may mean painful disruption for
the unprepared and bold new opportunities for others. Macroscopic disruption is
the threat, while a shared Renaissance of global innovation is the opportunity.