By Catherine Fredenburgh (March 16, 2006, 12:00 AM EST) -- Much has been made lately about the "improvement" in the protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) by and in China. There are those who see the increase in criminal actions, the lowering of the criminal threshold (the dollar value of the alleged counterfeiting needed to make a case qualify for criminal prosecution), the increase in actions by the Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) and the barrage of announcements by members of the Central Government or other influential persons in China about how they are making progress in the protection of IPR as genuine improvements in the protection of IPR. While improvement in IPR is a top-down issue, (the leaders must lead the general population, educate the judiciary, the police, the prosecutors—and such an effort is underway), it has a long, long way to go. If your product or service has a brand, somewhere in China there is an authorized duplicate being made or offered....