In Florida, new businesses are started every day. While business owners are often focused on the basics of running the business, there are much more complicated matters that will eventually come up. One of these is the reality of protecting intellectual property. According to the The Heartland Institute, the United States is ranked number one in intellectual property protection among the 50 largest economies in the world, but China still remains a large problem.
The ranking is based on things such as copyright, trademark, patent, trade secrets protection and around 40 indicators that are vital to innovation. In the United States alone, industries heavy in intellectual property supply up to 45 million jobs and contribute up to $6 trillion to the United States GDP.
The two largest economies in the world are the United States and China. China’s legal code makes it easier for companies to steal intellectual property and use it as their own. Their policies give companies no guarantee that their intellectual property will be safe from duplication, distribution, disclosure and use.
Although the Chinese have revoked many of these policies, they continue to introduce more of them, and some experts say that China is more interested in exploiting intellectual property from other economies rather than policing their own. Statistics suggest that American companies lose anywhere from $200 billion to $1.5 trillion dollars from intellectual property that is stolen by Chinese companies. Because of China’s legal system, businesses rarely have any recourse. Intellectual property issues may be the largest economic problem between China and the United States.