Patents Cannot Stop China

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The NBA has a patent which is infringed on the regular. Does it get a percentage?

Having a patent does not stop China from making T-shirts and baseball caps with the slogan “talk to me” as soon as those words leave a celebrity’s mouth.

What is a patent? It the right to profit from an invention. It can be a mathematical formula to count the amount of water in a single cloud or manner of speech associated with one particular person. This is more so in movies and sports. This is my take on the word ‘patent’. For the legal definition, talk to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), based in Geneva.

It consists of 193 countries. China is one of them, on paper only because that T-shirt on your back with Tupac’s face is made in China. China has time and resources that most countries dream about. Back to the current example “talk to me.” Your business crew registers it, but it’s not yours immediately. There’s a lot of digging your patent office has to do, to establish that nobody has ever claimed it before. Call it bureaucracy. Meanwhile, China has established, through its intelligence, that the guy who always says “talk to me” is big, huge in fact, especially among the young and the YouTubed. That’s right, YouTubed.

Lawyers say he has registered a patent on it. China says who is he? Is he Amazon, Meta, De Beers, a Saudi Arabia prince? No, just a small guy who loves playing with the Queen’s English. China says small fry, run the presses. We’re ready for the consequences.

China has time and resources to neuter patent law. Ask the NBA. The Chicago Bulls fake jersey is still the most popular in Africa, although the Lakers' is gaining ground. Does the NBA get a cut when China makes them? Clothing brands tried to sue China for patent infringement some years ago. They failed. This should not stop little people like the “talk to me” guy, from registering patents. They should just know the bumpy road ahead: China.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Executive Blogger

 

 

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