A Chinese Patent System

[tormsen]

While I have lost the link, I remember reading an argument by a Chinese scholar that one of the reasons that the Sung proto-industrial revolution experienced by the Sung Chinese didn't develop into a full-blown industrial revolution was due to a lack of the requisite legal framework that could encourage innovation and competition. This makes a lot of sense to me.

Now, patents seem to be a Western phenomenon from what I can see, derived from monopolies over the production of certain goods. Is there any way for patent law to develop in China in an early period, and what effects would such legislation have over China in the long run?

Patents and copyright law in general seem to be traced back to Greek, Roman and Jewish law, are there any elements within ancient Confucian or Taoist thought that could influence a hypothetical Chinese copyright or patent law in the same way?

 

[Nihao]

While I have lost the link, I remember reading an argument by a Chinese scholar that one of the reasons that the Sung proto-industrial revolution experienced by the Sung Chinese didn't develop into a full-blown industrial revolution was due to a lack of the requisite legal framework that could encourage innovation and competition. This makes a lot of sense to me.

Now, patents seem to be a Western phenomenon from what I can see, derived from monopolies over the production of certain goods. Is there any way for patent law to develop in China in an early period, and what effects would such legislation have over China in the long run?

Patents and copyright law in general seem to be traced back to Greek, Roman and Jewish law, are there any elements within ancient Confucian or Taoist thought that could influence a hypothetical Chinese copyright or patent law in the same way?

I think that can be archived without any help from any philosophical thoughts. The Chinese
had archived many technologies and skills in the past, especially in the Song as you may know, and why these techniques cannot became popular was mainly because the inventors (say merchants or artisans) thought that these techniques were their advantages, or some
kind of "secret weapons"to won out the competition, so in another words, they were quite selfish .

So a patent system would be a capitalize-on-the-trend policy to encourage advancements, and could possibly be created in a typical Chinese mindset.

 

[Max Sinister]

I don't know enough about China, and Hendryk isn't here, but in Japan at least it's like this: Because of their culture, they take a completely different way: If you invent something, and other people copy it, this is considered a honor for you.

No wonder the west and Japan clashed in the past when tthe Japanese copied/improved western technics.

 

[Tyr]

I don't know enough about China, and Hendryk isn't here, but in Japan at least it's like this: Because of their culture, they take a completely different way: If you invent something, and other people copy it, this is considered a honor for you.

No wonder the west and Japan clashed in the past when tthe Japanese copied/improved western technics.

I believe the same cultural idea applies in China.

 

[jycee]

I don't know enough about China, and Hendryk isn't here, but in Japan at least it's like this: Because of their culture, they take a completely different way: If you invent something, and other people copy it, this is considered a honor for you.

No wonder the west and Japan clashed in the past when tthe Japanese copied/improved western technics.

I believe the same cultural idea applies in China.

I'd say it is also so in the west. But honor comes with royalties as well.

 

[Dom Pedro III]

I'd say it is also so in the west. But honor comes with royalties as well.

That might be interesting if using someone's ideas comes with obligatory 'tribute' to honor the creator. Rather than giving exclusive control to the inventor, it sets up almost a feudal system of creativity... An inventor can complain to authorities that a person copying their invention has not honored them properly with gifts derived from the profits of using the invention. I could see this working quite nicely with Chinese sensibilities.