Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T10:38:46.571Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

When Sino-American Struggle Disrupts the Supply Chain: Licensing Intellectual Property in a Changing Trade Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2020

Mark A. Cohen  and
Philip C. Rogers
Mark A. Cohen
Affiliation:
UC Berkeley Law School, USA
Philip C. Rogers*
Affiliation:
UC Berkeley Department of Political Science, USA
*
*Email: mark.cohen@law.berkeley.edu; philip_rogers@berkeley.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Through legislative changes, tariff wars, and executive actions, the Trump Administration has injected a new urgency into international technology and supply chain management, particularly between the United States and China. Analytically, the situation invites a perspective that links practical/on-the-ground responses by commercial actors in the politics of technological competition between superpowers, i.e. a discussion that bridges the gap between policy and process. This article therefore approaches management of supply chain disruption in terms of a key security issue motivating recent changes to the trade environment: the protection of intellectual property. After reviewing critical policy developments and trade statistics, we draw upon data on IP-intensive industries from global patent offices, trade classifications for products made by these IP-intensive industries, and concordance data on patent classifications to illustrate the centrality of IP to extended supply chains. With these key relationships in mind, we outline specific opportunities that intellectual property licensing provides for managing supply chain linkages between the United States and China in the current geopolitical environment. Viewing intellectual property as both a driver of and a solution to trade difficulties highlights the sorts of cross-jurisdictional nuances that can better inform policy and business decisions alike in the broader international trade regime.

Keywords

Industrial PolicyLicensingTechno-NationalismTrade Policy
Type
Original Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 20 , Special Issue 2: Economic Statecraft and Global Trade in the 21st Century , May 2021 , pp. 238 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

Segments of this article's analysis are published elsewhere in alternative forms: Cohen, M. and P. Rogers (2020), ‘A Techo-Globalist Approach to Intellectual Property and Supply Chain Disruption’, www.hinrichfoundation.com/research/wp/tech/ip-strategy-techno-nationalism/

Cohen, M. (2019), ‘A New Era of Licensing with China’, Competition Policy International,www.competitionpolicyinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/CPI-Cohen.pdf

Cohen, M. (2019), ‘Licensing Intellectual Property in a Changing Trade Environment’, Intellectual Asset Management, www.iam-media.com/law-policy/licensing-intellectual-property-changing-trade-environment

References

Aggarwal, V. and Reddie, A. (2019) ‘Regulators Join Tech Rivalry with National Security Blocks on Cross-Border Investment’, Global Asia, 28 March, www.globalasia.org/v14no1/cover/regulators-join-tech-rivalry-with-national-security-blocks-on-cross-border-investment_vinod-k-aggarwalandrew-w-reddie.Google Scholar
Athukorala, P. (2010) ‘Production Networks and Trade Patterns in East Asia: Regionalization or Globalization?’, ADB Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration, www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/28530/wp56-trade-patterns-east-asia.pdf.Google Scholar
Athukorala, P. (2017) ‘China's Evolving Role in Global Production Networks: Implications for Trump's Trade War’, in Song, L., Garnaut, R., Fang, C., and Johnston, L. (eds.), China’s New Sources of Economic Growth: Human Capital, Innovation and Technological Change. Australia National University Press, pp. 363–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, S., Fischer, N., Hafeez, S., and Rabinowitz, M. (2019) ‘Update on US Government Review of “Emerging and Foundational” Technologies’, Pillsbury Global Trade and Sanctions Law, 30 July, www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/update-on-u-s-government-review-of-93470/.Google Scholar
Broullard, É. and Terwilliger, L. (2013) ‘Importing Software: IBM's Global Approach to Customs Valuation Issues and New Technologies’, World Customs Journal 7(2), 119–123, http://worldcustomsjournal.org/Archives/Volume%207%2C%20Number%202%20(Sep%202013)/10%20Brouillard%20and%20Terwilliger.pdf.Google Scholar
Brown, M. and Singh, P. (2018) ‘China's Technology Transfer Strategy: How Chinese Investments in Emerging Technology Enable a Strategic Competitor to Access the Crown Jewels of US Innovation’, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, www.documentcloud.org/documents/4549143-DIUx-Study-on-China-s-Technology-Transfer.html.Google Scholar
Chatelus, R. and Heine, P. (2016) ‘Rating Correlations between Customs Codes and Export Control Lists: Assessing the Needs and Challenges’, Strategic Trade Review 2(3), 43–67.Google Scholar
Cohen, M. (1988) ‘Book Review of Technology Transfer to China, by Richard S. Goossen’, China Law Reporter 4(4), 47–49.Google Scholar
Cohen, M. (2018) ‘Updates for March 27–April 2, 2018: China Steps Up Control over Technology Exports’, China IPR Blog, 3 April, https://chinaipr.com/2018/04/03/updates-for-march-27-april-2-2018-china-steps-up-control-over-technology-exports/.Google Scholar
Cohen, M. (2019a) ‘A Federal Circuit with Chinese Characteristics’, China IPR Blog, 4 January, https://chinaipr.com/2019/01/04/a-federal-circuit-with-chinese-characteristics-the-launch-of-chinas-new-national-appellate-ip-court-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E7%89%B9%E8%89%B2%E7%9A%84%E8%81%94%E9%82%A6%E5%B7%A1/.Google Scholar
Cohen, M. (2019b) ‘US Suspends IP Case against China: Quo Vadis Europa?’, China IPR Blog, 14 June, https://chinaipr.com/2019/06/14/us-suspends-ip-case-against-china-at-the-wto-quo-vadis-europa/.Google Scholar
Cohen, T. and Scheer, S. (2019) ‘Exclusive: Israel's Chip Sales to China Jump as Intel Expands’, Reuters, 18 March, www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-china-tech-exclusive/exclusive-israels-chip-sales-to-china-jump-as-intel-expands-idUSKCN1R00DF.Google Scholar
Fitch, A. (2019) ‘US Slows Hiring of Chinese Nationals by Chip Makers’, Wall Street Journal, 21 May, www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-slows-hiring-of-chinese-nationals-by-chip-makers-11558431000.Google Scholar
Gal, D. (2019) ‘The US–China–Israel Technology Triangle’, Council on Foreign Relations, 30 July, www.cfr.org/blog/us-china-israel-technology-triangle.Google Scholar
Kennedy, S. (2015) ‘Made in China 2025’, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1 June, www.csis.org/analysis/made-china-2025/.Google Scholar
KPMG (2018) China Looking Ahead – 8th Edition, https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/cn/pdf/en/2018/12/china-looking-ahead-edition-8.pdf.Google Scholar
Lardy, N. (2019) ‘Are Foreign Companies Really Leaving China in Droves?’, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 10 September, www.piie.com/blogs/china-economic-watch/are-foreign-companies-really-leaving-china-droves.Google Scholar
Lybbert, T. and Zolas, N. (2014) ‘Getting Patents and Economic Data to Speak to Each Other: An “Algorithmic Links With Probabilities” Approach for Joint Analyses of Patenting and Economic Activity’, Research Policy 43, 530–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perry, B. (2019) ‘How to Get Rich from Your Competitor's Illegal Transshipping: Moiety and the False Claims Act’, China Law Blog, 29 July, www.chinalawblog.com/2019/07/how-to-get-rich-from-your-competitors-illegal-transshipping-moiety-and-the-false-claims-act.html.Google Scholar
PRCMOFCOM [PRC Ministry of Commerce] (2019) ‘Research Report on US Gains from US–China Economic Cooperation’, http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/article/newsrelease/significantnews/201906/20190602872076.shtml.Google Scholar
Tran, H. (2019) ‘US–China Trade Deal Close but Will It Actually Repair the Relationship?’, Atlantic Council, 5 March, www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/us-china-trade-deal-close-but-will-it-actually-repair-the-relationship.Google Scholar
UNDESA [United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs] (2016) Classification by Broad Economic Categories, Revision 5 (2016, ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/53/Rev.5).Google Scholar
USBIS [US Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security] (2017a) ‘BIS Adds ZTE Corporation and Three Affiliated Entities to the Entity List’, www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/about-bis/47-about-bis/newsroom/1012-bis-adds-zte-corporation-and-three-affiliated-entities-to-the-entity-list.Google Scholar
USBIS [US Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security] (2017b) ‘US Trade With China: Overall Trends’, www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/documents/technology-evaluation/ote-data-portal/country-analysis/2356-2017-statistical-analysis-of-u-s-trade-with-china-pdf/file.Google Scholar
USBIS [US Commerce Department, Bureau of Industry and Security] (2019) ‘FAQs– What Technologies Are Considered Fundamental Research?’, www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/2011-09-12-20-18-59/export-and-reexport-faqs/faq/50-what-technologies-are-considered-fundamental-research.Google Scholar
USGAO [US Government Accountability Office] (2011) ‘Export Controls: Improvements Needed to Prevent Unauthorized Technology Releases to Foreign Nationals in the United States’, www.gao.gov/assets/320/315496.pdf.Google Scholar
USGAO [US Government Accountability Office] (2016) ‘Bilateral Clean Energy Programs Show Some Results but Should Enhance Their Performance Monitoring’, www.gao.gov/assets/680/678214.pdf.Google Scholar
Watt, J., Ng, N., and Bermingham, F. (2019) ‘Behind the Tariffs: How Bicycles Link China and the US’, South China Morning Post, 25 June, www.scmp.com/podcasts/article/3015825/behind-tariffs-how-bicycles-link-china-and-us.Google Scholar
WIPO [World Intellectual Property Organization] (2020) ‘China Becomes Top Filer of International Patents in 2019 Amid Robust Growth for WIPO's IP Services’, 7 April, www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2020/article_0005.html.Google Scholar