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How managers protect intellectual property rights in China using de facto strategies
Author(s) -
Keupp Marcus Matthias,
Beckenbauer Angela,
Gassmann Oliver
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9310.2009.00550.x
Subject(s) - de facto , intellectual property , china , enforcement , business , work (physics) , property rights , international trade , law and economics , emerging markets , industrial organization , commerce , economics , law , political science , finance , engineering , mechanical engineering
Foreign firms trying to protect their intellectual property rights (IPRs) in emerging economies are suffering real pressures because these economies usually offer little or no enforcement of IPR. Foreign firms therefore have to resort to approaches unlike those they use in developed countries. This paper explores what managers of foreign firms in China have already tried in their efforts to achieve effective IPR protection – specifically, they have crafted de facto strategies that can protect IPR without using China's legal system or engaging in lawsuits against imitators. These strategies work, and this paper explains how and why, thus offering a potential template for IPR protection in other economies with weak appropriability systems.