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IHC prepared to go to court over design ‘theft’
Friday 7 November 2008

<p>IHC Merwede is considering taking Chinese shipyards and designers to court over intellectual property theft, writes Helen Hill.</p>
<p>The Dutch shipyard says production processes and even full dredging vessel designs have been copied in some instances.</p>
<p>IHC Merwede president Govert Hamers said the Dutch group was also tightening controls and introducing better protection against future intellectual property theft.</p>
<p>Until recently IHC had co-operated with several Chinese yards, but Mr Hamers said that designs had been copied and built by Chinese competitors.</p>
<p>It is difficult to estimate how much was lost through intellectual property theft but Mr Hamers said it totalled tens of millions of euros. IHC&#8217;s turnover and competitive position in China were being hit by the theft, he said.</p>
<p>IHC was not the only victim, he added. &#8220;We are talking about an enormous drain of intellectual property in China,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>But, he stressed that copying is &#8220;very difficult to prove legally, especially if one does not have a contractual arrangement with a party&#8221;.</p>
<p>In a bid to address the problem, Mr Hamers said the company was building up cases against yards and making efforts to protect itself.</p>
<p>IHC Merwede &#8220;has reasonably good intellectual property clauses&#8221; and it is taking a more organised approach with its partners, as well as having its own production facilities and service centres in China.</p>
<p>Contracts are better defined, with specific clauses about intellectual property. This gives better protection and makes court cases easier, Mr Hamers said.</p>
<p>IHC is choosing its partners in China very carefully and now has a new partner in Dalian. It has just opened its own production facility for heavy industrial components in Guangdong province, he said.</p>
<p>Shipbuilding Netherlands&#8194;managing director Martin Bloem said the issue of intellectual property theft was broad but very hard to tackle, particularly for smaller shipbuilders and suppliers.</p>
<p>Dutch firms were highly innovative and often several years ahead of the competition, he said. But for smaller products, intellectual property theft was particularly difficult to control.</p>
<p>The organisation has asked members to provide it with examples of intellectual property theft. The group is also supporting the Community of European Shipyards&#8217; Association&#8217;s efforts to address the issue.</p>

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