Challenges faced by Taiwan design houses: perspectives from intellectual property rights

• Main Authors: Yeh, Tzu Fu, 葉咨甫
• Other Authors: Lee, Jyh An
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/34238247355862591688

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 智慧財產研究所 === 100 === Design should be a concept of creating value added. However, in Taiwan, many designers are forced to compromise with the reality, doing high competitive jobs like B to B(business-to-business) instead of following their aspirations. Despite the fact that Taiwanese designers have won many international prizes and that their designing abilities have been highly recognized in the world, they are still unable to use “design” to create high value added works, make profits, and gain popularity out of it. Ku Yu-Wen, the designer who won the 2009 Gen Art Prize in the U.S., once said, “I was forced to leave because of this industry in Taiwan. In this environment, it’s almost impossible to be myself, be a creative designer who doesn’t copy.” What problems are we facing in Taiwan’s design industry? What role should the IP policy take? In this research, we will go through the concepts of design industry, intellectual property and collective management organizations, discuss the problems and difficulties faced in Taiwan, and work on a possible solution. After a series of data analysis, the research concludes that Taiwan’s design industry are facing three main problems: First, Taiwan’s design industry is composed of small companies, which are constantly competitive, lack capital and resources, and are unable to expand markets oversea or invest in brand management. Second, in Taiwan’s design industry, it’s difficult to transfer the value of innovation into the brand or the trade mark; therefore, customers are often unable to distinguish the genuine products from the couterfeits. Third, the market lacks stable and reliable marketing channels. It’s difficult for designers to make profits from their works and gain sufficient capital to support their following works. To solve these problems, the research proposes the concept of “designer brands broker” in hopes of lowering the transaction cost and helping those willing but unable designers. Like the integration of intellectual property, when reaching a certain scale, this kind of collective management organizations can help to diversification risk like an insurance company. Furthermore, it can help to increase designers’ negotiating ability and decrease the search cost for both the seller and the buyer.