Lenovo, the Chinese giant that plays by the rules … and loses

Contrary to the accusations levelled at China's tech sector, the firm bought its patents fair and square. But is it facing losses?

The war of words between the US and China over trade has many subtexts, but treatment of intellectual property (IP) is a major factor. Donald Trump believes that the world's second-largest economy gains an unfair advantage over its main rival due to an overly aggressive and sometimes underhand approach to IP - the patents and copyrights that underpin big tech, manufacturing and creative breakthroughs.

So what happens when China plays the game fairly and buys American IP to gain a foothold in the world's biggest economy? In the case of Lenovo, one of China's biggest tech firms, doing so has been no guarantee of success. The Beijing-based company has bought three respected US tech businesses since 2005: IBM's PC arm and low-cost server unit, and Motorola smartphones. None of them has worked out.

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