Advance – an English Speaking Club in Hanoi

Topic for Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009

You are intelligent, you use your mind to create something, then you begin to gain profit from it. Some others are also intelligent but don’t use their mind to create like you. They want to exploit the thing you created, and give you not a penny on each dollar they earn. You feel angry, very angry, and die of that. Or their business grows faster, bigger than yours, they even play dirty to you, then they stay alive, you die. The end.

Fortunately, today there is Intellectual Property (IP) law. Such endings can be avoided, and you will die of another reasons rather than IP violations. Now let’s have a deeper look in IP. Issues you may like to consider:

1. IP law is unfair. Because when you copy and sell somebody’s book without permission, you have to run a business, deal with local government officals, face policemen, fight against other rivals… You work much harder than the guy who created the book,  then why you have to pay that lazy guy, and why people have the right to punish you if you don’t?

2. China produces fake products, and be quite famous for that. And Chinese economy grow fast and go big. Chinese fake products even have impact on foreign product in domestic market, and even in foreign markets. Can we say fake product gives profit for China, makes China become more competitive? Should VN create such fake product industry like China?

3. Playing dirty while competing with your rivals is illegal, and is an IP violation. Your rival may give statement with unclear information about you, then, you suffer- do you have any example for that in VN market? How those companies dealt with such statements?

4. In VN, you can claim back 500 mil VND at max if IP violation causes you damages, and from 5 to 50 mil VND if it causes you mental/ spirital damages. Do you think this is the reason why VN IP law is weak? How much other countries may allow you to claim?

By: Tú