Introduction
Copyright issues continue to fill our media as companies seek compensation over the same. This is commonly witnessed between Chinese and United States’ companies. Software created by Companies such as Microsoft ends up being copied by other companies in China or India to make them accessible to their markets at extremely low prices. This benefits buyers as they end up enjoying such services at the expense of original companies, which have exclusive rights. This incident is mostly common in developing countries, since they cannot afford expensive original software and movies. Nonetheless, they need such facilities, in a globalized world where internet services are quite cheap. The pirates offer these products at slashed prices, which are inclined towards violation of intellectual property. This has created ‘war’ between developing and developed States as the latter lacks adequate mechanisms to stem such vices. This paper will explore intellectual property and the incidents involving companies seeking damages for violation of the same (Cross, & Miller, 2008, p. 48).
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property, which is also known as IP, refers to a number of unique creations that the owners get exclusive rights over, so that no other individual or organization is allowed to reproduce them or use the idea to make similar products. These are usually common in artistic works, development of software as well as in movie industries, among others. They include copyrights, patents, trade secrets as well as trademarks. Its use has been far and wide especially in the United States (Donahey, 2009, p. 1 ).
Companies seeking Damages for Violation of intellectual property
China forms the greatest threat to Microsoft revenues in terms of piracy. It is believed that computer sales in both the United States and China are equal, but revenue got by Microsoft for their software in China is barely 5% of that in the United States. This shows the extent of piracy that was estimated to have cost Microsoft over $ 20 billion in the year 2010. To make matters worse, Chinese laws do not have adequate mechanisms to stem this vice. According to Donahey, who is a sole arbitrator of various intellectual property violations, American Arbitration has solved several cases involving companies that violate intellectual property in software and internet law. These have ranged from knowledge of software to copyright laws, in which case, damages in excess of $ 6 million were sought in just a single case (PhysOrg, 2011, p. 1 ).
Importance of intellectual property
Intellectual property has been credited with promotion of economic growth. Over sixty-seven percent of big industries’ values in U. S. constitute intangible assets. Industries that are IP intensive are estimated to generate more money in terms of value added per employee as compared to non- IP intensive industries. In addition, exclusive rights, if given to Company, allows it to benefit greatly from the sale or use of their property. This also helps in creating the much-needed financial incentives for development of intellectual property as well as its extended ventures (Donahey, 2009, p. 1 ).
Conclusion
Intellectual property refers to development exclusive rights safeguarding creations by organizations or individuals. These are usually intangible assets and add value to the company’s productivity as well as competitive edge. Companies are able to gain fully from their creations as competitors are barred from using the same idea for similar creations. Intellectual property is essential to companies as it enables generation of value added per employee as well as incentives towards creation of such products and investment on it (Cross, & Miller, 2008, p. 48).
Reference List
Cross, F.B., & Miller, R.L. (2008). The legal environment of business: Text and cases – ethical, regulatory, global, and e-commerce issues. (7th ed.). West: Cincinnati.
Donahey, S. (2009). Arbitration Experience. Scottdonahey.com. Web.
PhysOrg. (2011). Microsoft chief says China piracy very costly. PHYSORG.com. Web.