Book Review: A Great Book for Understanding the Current Status of the World of Patents in China

Several weeks ago, I read Mining Ideas for Diamonds: Comparing China and US IP Practices from Invention Selection to Patent Monetization by Tao Zhang and Jingui Fang.  Dr. Zhang is Senior Director of IP Strategy for Huawei Device USA and is based in Silicon Valley while Jingui Fang is Senior Patent Engineer for Huawei,

​I met Tao a while back and again ran into her at IPBC Global in Ottawa this week.  She is a technically astute IP strategist and one of the more experienced professionals on China IP strategy I have met.  She holds a PhD in physics from Stanford University and a JD from Concord Law School. She is a member of the California Bar and US Patent and Trademark Office.  Before joining Huawei in 2012, Dr. Zhang was with HP for 23 years. She began her career at HP as an R&D engineer, then moved on to programme management, people management, and Director of IP licensing from 2004 to 2012. She also led HP’s online patent sales, storage patent licensing and HP Labs technology transfer.

Mining For Diamonds is written well, but with some hiccups regarding English usage and spelling from time to time.  This small drawback does not take away from the value of the book, though.  With such a paucity of good books on the patent system, including enforcement, in China, this excellent analysis of the system is a gem.  The authors regularly compare the Chinese system to that of the US, allowing US readers and those familiar with "our" system to quickly understand.

The analysis of the Chinese system is very good.  However, even though the book was published in early 2017, some of the information (such as that regarding software and business method patents) is already out of date.  This simply shows the rapid rate of growth and evolution of the Chinese system.  

Some interesting topics that the authors discuss is the lack of attorney-client privilege in China, the underuse of utility models, and how to establish and run an in-house patent protocol.  As someone who worked at Qualcomm, which has perhaps the most exhaustive and impressive in-house patent system in the world, I was impressed and agree with almost all of what the authors explain.

There is something for everyone in this book.  Whether you are are patent buyer/seller, CFO, VC, portfolio manager, valuation expert, M&A lawyer, patent prosecutor, or patent litigator, Mining For Diamonds will expand your understanding of China's patent system and how to take advantage of it.  

There is still more to know, but this is a great start.  Along with Doug Clark's excellent tome, Patent Litigation in China, this is perhaps the most useful book on Chinese patents, litigation, and monetization out there right now.  

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Tao Zhang, PhD