On July 4, Microchip Technology Inc. filed a lawsuit against
Shanghai Haier Integrated Circuit Co. Ltd. The American company
alleges that the Chinese company, a unit of Chinese home appliance
maker Haier Group, copied its microcode embedded in its PIC16CXXX
microcontrollers and the data manual describing how to use the
microcontroller.
A senior manager with the Haier Group says that now so-called
intellectual propriety protection is a tool for multinational
companies to lambaste others in order to retain their technology
monopoly. This tool is more lethal than trade barriers and 60
percent of Chinese export companies are suffering this kind of
technical barrier set by foreign countries, the manager
reveals.
Please read the full story in Chinese (
http://www.china-cbn.com/s/n/000004/20070705/000000072099.shtml).
(China.org.cn July 5, 2007)