Fred leads Harris Sliwoski’s intellectual property practice and is the coordinator of the firm’s international team. Much of Fred’s practice consists of helping cannabis businesses protect their brands. He also works with entrepreneurs and companies entering the Web3 space, a new frontier for IP law. Prior to joining Harris Sliwoski, Fred worked overseas for more than a decade, in both government and private sector roles. Fred is a regular contributor to the award-winning China Law Blog and Canna Law Blog.
Fred began his career overseas as a U.S. consular officer in Guangzhou, China, where he advocated for fairer treatment of American companies and citizens in China and for stronger intellectual property rights enforcement. After entering the private sector, Fred worked at a Shanghai law firm as a foreign legal advisor and later joined one of the oldest American law firms in China, helping foreign companies navigate the Chinese legal environment. He also led the legal team at a Hong Kong-based brand protection consultancy, spending most of his time out in the field, protecting clients against counterfeiters and fraudsters in Greater China, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
In addition to his IP work, as a native Spanish speaker, Fred works closely with different Harris Sliwoski teams on Latin America and Spain matters. Fred also provides advice to cannabis industry participants and other businesses on import and export transactions.
Fred is an ardent supporter of FC Barcelona—and would be even in the absence of Catalan forebears who immigrated to Puerto Rico in the mid-1800s.
United States LLC Operating Agreements LLC operating agreements establish how a limited liability company is to be run and are equivalent to a corporation’s bylaws (see Doing Business in the United States: The Laws You Should Know for more information on LLCs and corporations). In most states, including some very popular ones for forming LLCs,
Trademark symbols are the subject of regular questions from clients and even people with whom I have casual conversations, once they find out I am a trademark lawyer. In this post, I’ll briefly explain when it’s appropriate to use each symbol. By the time you finish reading, you should be able to understand why I
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Forming a Company in Mexico Mexico’s economy is booming, driven by a young and tech-savvy population, its strategic location next to the US, favorable trade deals with North America and the EU, and a government eager to attract foreign investment. This surge has attracted a wave of companies from various industries, all eager to tap
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Introduction Since last month’s post covering international aspects of trademark infringement litigation, we’ve gotten some questions about what resolution options are available short of full-blown litigation. Obviously, trademark infringement is a significant concern for businesses and individuals seeking to protect their brands. But, sometimes, settlement or other mutual agreements to resolve these problems can make
If you’re not American, U.S. politics can be confusing. And believe us, even if you are American, they’re confusing. The United States has been mired in a partisan struggle for several decades (some would say, for the past 245 years), and during the past 10 years it has been particularly difficult to pass legislation through
With the rapid growth of the Web3 economy shaking up things across legal fields, it is not surprising that the registration of Web3 trademarks is raising novel issues. Web3 businesses should, of course, keep these issues on their radar when crafting brand strategies, but at the same time they must not neglect trademark basics. Similarity
