Asian IP law: An area of rising importance

• Main Authors: LIU, Kung-chung, ZHENG, Shufeng
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: Asian Studies; Intellectual Property Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/3128; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/5086/viewcontent/ikaa013__1_.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Intellectual property (IP) laws are an important instrument for promoting cooperation and peace in Asia. In their own ways, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and India all serve as IP success stories. Structural features of the IP landscape in major Asian jurisdictions include the following: technocrat-driven IP law, national IP strategies and specialized IP or patent judges. In addition, there are five distinctively Asian developments worth noticing: the sweeping criminalization of copyright infringement, an explosion in the number of registered trademarks, the very limited use of compulsory patent licensing and the convergence on certain standards for the licensing of standard essential patents (SEPs). On the other hand, it is notable that an open-ended and general fair use clause has had a mixed reception in Asian copyright and trademark law. Finding ways to enhance cooperation across Asia, steering IP regimes through trade deals and free trade agreements (FTAs), envisioning a fairer (or at least more functional) mechanism for paying creators, and improving the quality and performance of IP or patent judges are among the important issues that need addressing in the continuing effort to leverage IP laws as a tool for prosperity and peace in Asia.