China is often perceived as a black hole for foreign intellectual property. Although China faces difficulties in enforcing intellectual property rights, this presentation will show that China's reputation as an IP “pirate state” is exaggerated. Relying primarily on judicial statistics and the accounts of IP practitioners in China, this lecture will show that China not only is on the cusp of transition to a more IP-friendly state, but already has a robust IP enforcement jurisprudence. Further, the argument will be made that the U.S. government should not politicize IP policy by predicating closer relations on improved enforcement, but rather should unilaterally lower barriers to Chinese investment in U.S. IP-generating firms, thereby creating stakeholders in Chinese society. Lastly, broad estimates will be presented of the cost (in dollar terms) of the current U.S.-China impasse on the subject of IP rights.

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About the Speaker

Joshua K. Perles received his J.D. from NYU Law in 2013, where he served as Note Editor for the Journal of International Law and Politics. His paper on enforcement of intellectual property rights, published in JILP’s fall 2012 issue, received NYU Law’s award for best student note on international law. Before law school, Perles spent several years working in China, most recently as a research fellow at Peking University’s Schools of Environment and Energy and Transnational Law. While completing his J.D., he advised the Office of Senator Mike DeWine on matters of Chinese law and politics as a summer foreign policy fellow. He currently offers consulting services regarding the enforcement of U.S. judgments in China and recently served as an expert witness in this area.