The New Silk Road to Global IP Landscape

Abstract

China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) initiative aims to foster the economic integration of the continental and maritime regions. The OBOR initiative is a pluralistic and multifunctional operation with the goal of making China a leading power in the new global economic order. This initiative has significantly influenced China’s national intellectual property (IP) strategy, and IP plays a crucial role in the implementation of the OBOR initiative. The OBOR initiative also offers an ideal venue for China to establish its voice and leading role in international IP policymaking and practice. Nevertheless, China still faces quite a few challenges associated with competing and conflicting interests on IP as well as industrial development. This chapter views IP as a driving force for many international transactions and intergovernmental collaborations under the OBOR initiative. This chapter also identifies the opportunities and challenges associated with IP in the OBOR initiative.

Keywords: one belt one road, intellectual property, China, outbound investment