The paper's author, Höffner, names the fragmented German states as the reason IP claims (in this case copyright) was so difficult to enforce.

Now we have international trade agreements enforcing IP in most places. Could this effect partially explain China's rise in tech? They ignored IP for ages.

I mean it's certainly easier to innovate when you're not looking over your shoulder or stopping to ask IP lawyers if they think you've breached anything in trivial parts of your tech.