Chinese Court Rulings on IP Rights vs. Enforcement of IP Rights

The latest ruling by the Chinese courts in favor of protecting IP Rights in China is significant, but only to Pfizer itself and those who believe that the Chinese really have IP protection as a nation and governmental priority. The reality of the decision is much less grandiose.Pfizer is a huge multinational company but Pfizer's sales of Viagra in China are small, rendering the decision more of a source of positive publicity for the Chinese legal system than any effectual ruling. This will be reported all over the world with most folks acceding to the opinion that the Chinese courts are falling in line with the rest of the world's not an incorrect conclusion, but not totally accurate either.Secondly, the last line of this Forbes articleclearly stats that enforcement and a court ruling are two completely different things. Further, unless the responsible government agencies decide to make Pfizer a personal priority, enforcement will most likely never happy.In countering the claims that they are the largest source of black market goods in the world, China regularly touts their facts that they have stricter IP regulations than the US or Europe. China apologists also claim that the size of the country and population affect the government's ability to enforce said regulations. So, does that mean that the counterfeiting of goods is OK or just inevitable? While only the most strident of anarchists will justify the complete elimination of any copyright enforcement (even Chinese companies are now realizing the value of domestic IP protection), the enforcement issue is one that needs to be dealt with.While I agree that China is large and that it has a large population, neither of these factors should influence enforcement in a police state with so much technological and human capital at its disposal. (if you doubt that China is a police state, just read this about the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Anyone who thinks that this will not be the most picture perfect Olympics ever is delusional.Furthering the Olympic example, the event's accompanying paraphernalia is all licensed by the Chinese government and so there is an obvious stake in effective enforcement. The results? FANTASTIC!! You can't find fake Olympic dolls, t-shirts, pins, hats, or sponsor's signs in the large black markets in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou (all places I've personally searched in the last couple of months). If the government can stop the production of Olympic counterfeits why not Viagra, or Disney, or Sony or Calloway or the hundreds of thousands of Western brand name goods?Anyone that has lived in China for more than a couple of months can tell you of the China Daily article claiming all illegal CDs and DVDs in China have been destroyed. Really! 100% total clean up, or so the government run paper says. But like the Pfizer case, publicity and selective (or no) enforcement will be the end result.