Reprinted from NZ Lawyer magazine
China is and will remain a critical export market for New Zealand; experts have suggested it could outpace Australia and become our largest trading partner in coming years.
The country has long been renowned as a land of rampant copying and disregard for intellectual property (IP) rights, but that’s rapidly changing as the Chinese make bold moves to strengthen requirements around IP law. While extensive pressure is being applied from other countries, fast growth among local exporters like ZTE and Huawei has likely helped too – they are #1 and #3 respectively on the latest list of top international patent filing companies.
Two recent changes in particular have placed more onus on IP rights holders to ensure their rights are universally clear, and they are among the toughest in the world today.
