Pressure to safeguard intellectual property rights in China will grow as domestic companies increasingly seek to protect their developments and inventions.
Linklaters partner Tom Hope cited an example of software publisher associations in China who are in favour of intellectual property protection for their own products.
'What really shifted the goal posts and made people take it seriously is Chinese publishers saying 'Look this guy down the road is ripping off my stuff - it shouldn't be allowed',' he said.
Prior to such developments the pressure for better protection of intellectual property came almost entirely from overseas companies who saw their products being pirated.
'The penny drops when you see your own people suffering,' Mr Hope said.
The history of the United States' approach to protection of intellectual property could be a parallel to how China may develop in this area.
