IP Laws and Regimes in Major Asian Economies: Combing Through Thousand Threads of IP to Peace in Asia

This book systematically studies the structural characteristics of IP laws and regimes of major Asian economies, including (but not always) China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. It explores and crystallizes some worthy Asian models which could further help the development of international IP laws.

This book begins with an overview of Asian modern history and IP laws. It discusses the three basic IP laws in Asia which are patent law, trademark law and copyright law. It looks at the pre-established damages for copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting. The book also deals with problems with trade secret and its over-protection. It compares IP laws and four industries in India and China, and examines what role have IP laws played in the development in those industries and how India and China can learn from each other. Finally, it examines one medium and one small-sized Asian economy on its respective struggle (Taiwan’s efforts to build a coherent IP exhaustion regime) and a success story (how Singapore has utilized IP to secure its position in global value chains).

This book is a useful reference for law students, scholars, practitioners, IP professionals who are interested in knowing Asia, Asian IP laws and industries, their struggles and finding ways to better global IP laws. The case studies could provide helpful lessons for other Asian economies and beyond.

Kung-Chung Liu is Professor of Law at Singapore Management University and Renmin University of China. He is also Adjunct Chair Professor, Shandong University, China.