Currently, the United States leads the world in the creation and export of intellectual property (IP) and IP-related products. To preserve the rights of inventors and legitimate businesses, IP protection is vital—the U.S. economy depends on it. Yet, the market is flooded with counterfeits of every conceivable product—including connectors.
The Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Customs and Border Protection reported 6,500 shipments of every kind of product seized for violations of trademarks and copyrights in 2003, worth more than $94 million. The FAA estimates that 2% of the 26 million airline parts installed each year are counterfeit (that equals 520,000 parts). Counterfeit parts have been discovered in helicopters sold to NATO, in jet engines, in bridge joints, and in fasteners in areas of nuclear facilities responsible for preventing reactor meltdown. Not only is this an issue affecting the U.S. (and therefore global) economy, but it's also an issue of safety.
The countries on the "watch list" known for egregious theft of U.S. intellectual property include China, Paraguay, Malaysia, Russia, Taiwan, and Ukraine. In a recently published report, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), the largest international organization devoted to combating product counterfeiting and piracy, concluded that China—without question—poses the greatest IP enforcement challenge in the world. In the Connector Specifier QuickVote survey, 82% of respondents thought their connector or connector-related company was inadequately protected against theft of intellectual property in China.
Given these problems, the State Council in China has made progress, issuing several new measures in 2003. In the patent area, the State Council issued the Amendments to the Patent Law Implementing Measures. The State Council promulgated the Certification and Accreditation Act, which sets requirements for certification entities, stipulates certification and accreditation activities, and states legal liabilities for violations. China is also amending its customs regulations relating to IP protection at the border, vital to stopping the counterfeiting trade.
The IACC, while noting some progress from the Chinese government, says most criminal enforcement actions have yet to yield noticeable results, mainly due to ambiguities in the Criminal Code and the perennial lack of resources for Chinese police. Meanwhile, local protectionism hampers enforcement throughout the country, and particularly in key hot spots inside Fujian Province and the wholesale trading center of Yiwu City in Zhejiang Province.
The shady nature of product counterfeiting makes it hard to estimate its size. To help gather information on the numbers in our industry, we want to know what you know about electronic-component counterfeits and intellectual property violations in your business. Please participate in our IP survey at www.connectorspecifier.com.
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Valerie Coffey, Editor-in-Chief
valeriec@pennwell.com
