Still Dissatisfied after All These Years: Intellectual Property, Post-WTO China, and the Avoidable Cycle of Futility

17 Pages Posted: 20 Sep 2005 Last revised: 8 May 2023

See all articles by Peter K. Yu

Peter K. Yu

Texas A&M University School of Law

Abstract

Commentators have widely discussed the piracy and counterfeiting problems in China. Every year, the United States is estimated to lose billions of dollars due to piracy and counterfeiting in China alone. Published as part of the "U.S.-China Trade: Opportunities and Challenges" Symposium, this essay focuses on the recent debate about whether the U.S. administration should file a formal complaint against China with the WTO Dispute Settlement Body over inadequate enforcement of intellectual property rights.

The essay begins by explaining why the administration should not do so. It then discusses the consequences of filing such a complaint. It contends that such action is likely to result in a new “cycle of futility,” similar to the cycles created by the American intellectual property policy toward China in the 1980s and early 1990s. To avoid these cycles, the essay highlights four remedial areas on which the administration and the business community should focus. It concludes with three observations that provide insight into the piracy and counterfeiting problems in China and the difficulty in alleviating those problems.

Suggested Citation

Yu, Peter K., Still Dissatisfied after All These Years: Intellectual Property, Post-WTO China, and the Avoidable Cycle of Futility. Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 34, pp. 143-58, 2005, MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 03-11 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=578584

Peter K. Yu (Contact Author)

Texas A&M University School of Law ( email )

1515 Commerce St.
Fort Worth, TX Tarrant County 76102
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.peteryu.com/

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