It’s one thing to have a patent or trademark—it’s quite another to police and protect it in emerging markets, as a few companies have found in Asia over the years.
There are potentially encouraging signs that Macau is ploughing its own and relatively righteous furrow in this regard.
The exhibition floor at this year’s G2E Asia was abuzz with reports that Macau customs officials paid a visit to the venue—reportedly after complaints from a Western company that its intellectual property rights had been breached by another exhibitor.
AGI hasn’t yet heard what the officials made of the complaint, but it does at least suggest the government takes such claims seriously. Whether Macau will become as happy a hunting ground for commercial lawyers in future as the North American market remains to be seen.