Publications
Publications
- 2024
- HBS Working Paper Series
Omnia Juncta in Uno: Foreign Powers and Trademark Protection in Shanghai's Concession Era
By: Laura Alfaro, Cathy Bao, Maggie X. Chen, Junjie Hong and Claudia Steinwender
Abstract
We investigate how firms and markets adapt to trademark protection, an extensively utilized but under-examined form of IP protection to address asymmetric information, by exploring a historical precedent: China’s 1923 trademark law. Exploiting unique, newly digitized firm-employee, price, and newspaper data from Shanghai’s Concession Era, we show that the trademark law, an unanticipated and Western-disapproved response to end foreign privileges, significantly reduced information friction and shaped firm dynamics and organization on opposite sides of trademark conflicts. Western firms that suffered from counterfeits decreased dependence on alternative communication channels and gained market from Japanese counterparts who were most frequently accused of counterfeiting. The trademark law also fostered relationships with domestic intermediaries, both within and outside the boundaries of Western firms. The increased protection led to heterogeneous price responses and new varieties, demonstrating a coexistence of IP protection and competitive markets. In contrast, previous institutional attempts by foreign powers were broadly unsuccessful.
Keywords
Trademark; Firm Dynamics; Intermediaries; Intellectual Property Institutions; Trademarks; Intellectual Property; Laws and Statutes; Outcome or Result; Organizational Change and Adaptation; China
Citation
Alfaro, Laura, Cathy Bao, Maggie X. Chen, Junjie Hong, and Claudia Steinwender. "Omnia Juncta in Uno: Foreign Powers and Trademark Protection in Shanghai's Concession Era." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-030, November 2021. (Revised July 2024.)