One source of confusion may be the shifting use of the expression "intellectual property". Of course the old Iron Curtain countries, and many of the new tiger economies have often copied wholesale - infringing "intellectual property" in the old sense, not least because in those countries the relevant rights did not exist. Now in many cases they exist but are not enforced.

The value of MG in particular arises from "intellectual property" in a new, debased (some might say) sense, in the world of "brand values" where the product matters not at all, merely the cachet of its presentation, eg "Caterpillar" for boots, "Diesel" for men's scents (whatever happened to Bombay Rum?), and so on. In this world,the value of a Daewoo doubles if it is branded as a Chevrolet, and teh value of a Volkswagen halves if it is branded "Skoda". The Chinese cannot brand their products as "MG" in the world market without obtaining at least licences of key copyrights and trade marks.