The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission held hearing on January 28 on the Foreign Investment Climate in China: Present Challenges and Potential for Reform.  I participated in those hearings as a representative of the USPTO,to talk about the licensing environment for intellectual property.  Here is my hearing statement. There was also some other excellent testimony, from the Federal Trade Commission, academics and practitioners.

In discussing IP abuse, I noted that “Inability to commercialize license or enforce patents or other IP rights is IP abuse in a more fundamental sense [than the Antimonopoly Law.”  I also discussed US data that shows a relatively low level of IP licensing by Chinese companies of US technology, and discuss what may be the reasons for this low licensing rate.  I also discus the role of the state in regulating the licensing of technology.

I welcome your comments.