Greater China IP or "IP"

In Spring 2017, I had the coincidental experience of being in Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, Taiwan for pleasure and work within eight consecutive days. As in Hong Kong, I spoke Cantonese in the former Portuguese enclave of Macau, Mandarin in Mainland China and Guoyu (standard Mandarin) in Taiwan. Institutional civil and political differences aside, I felt commonalities on economic, social and cultural fronts.

Under the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework, Hong Kong, Macau, China and Taiwan are all independent Members. In the economic field of intellectual property (IP), they all apply the multilateral standards of the WTO-Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 1995. The challenge upon the entities is the vision and will to enhance mutual capacity and support on social and cultural fronts eg let IP - protected creativity and innovation flourish in Greater China markets.

Take IP rights of literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works and performances fixed in audio, visual or audio-visual formats (popular culture also known as "IP" in mainland China) to be recorded in blockchain-like platforms as a possible project for collaboration. I perceive the social peer-to-peer - monitored recordings of the "IP"s' originality, authorship, ownership, licensing or assignment at near real time and at very low cost should nurture exchange of value in a legitimate fashion, sustaining the creative and innovative culture at the same time. As adoption of such a Greater China digital trade platform by stakeholders is a necessary condition for its success, I would recommend the Greater China copyright sector to engage constructively with blockchain platform developers to make it happen before long.

In the digital age, information technology and ways of exchanging value are moving with the times. I believe the suggested blockchain-based digital copyright trade would enrich the "internet+" businesses, driving Greater China's economic, social and cultural developments. The probable success of the Greater China IP or "IP" business model should pave a way for the "Belt and Road" development!