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Mon, Apr 14, 2003 - Page 11　News List

AmCham's point man on IPR protection talks tough

Jeffrey Harris, managing director of the law firm Orient Commercial Enquiries, has been championing the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Taiwan for 23 years. Harris, who also set up and co-chairs the American Chamber of Commerce's Intellectual Property Committee, recently met with `Taipei Times' staff reporter Bill Heaney to discuss the advance of IPR protection and some hurdles the nation still has to cross

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TT: Pressure on the government from other nations and the WTO on IPR could be seen as one-sided. Why it is in Taiwan's interest to protect IPR?

Harris: I don't see it being a one-sided issue at all. Taiwan is a developed country that has high-tech. It has a huge music and movie industry; it has its own brands. Taiwan needs to wake up and look at IPR. It's going to lose its music and movie industries, because the home market is being destroyed by counterfeiting. It's going to lose the high-tech industry, because high-tech has too many places to go. What's the point of bringing IPR to Taiwan if there isn't adequate protection? You might as well take it to China.

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