Is the IPRs Protection working effectively in Developing countries? --- some empirical findings from Japanese FDI in China ---

By using data from a questionnaire survey to Japanese firms in China this paper empirically examines effects of the IPRs protection on limiting local illegal imitation there. The results robustly show that the IPRs protection system as a whole has such effects in reducing local illegal imitation in China. However, in the test no evidence has been found that the patent and trademark registration, which is a part of the whole IPRs protection system, has such effect. To the contrary the results suggest that the patent and trademark registration system may play a role of facilitating for local illegal imitation in China. The results call for our reconsideration of how the IPRs protection rule in WTO should be.