Artwork can cross borders faster than the legal protections behind it. This guide explains how artists can protect ownership, control overseas production, register key rights, safeguard their names, and respond when galleries, manufacturers, licensees, or counterfeiters misuse their work.
China adopted a revised Trademark Law on June 26, 2026. The new law will take effect on January 1, 2027. Much of the commentary surrounding the revised law has focused on the statutory changes themselves. Foreign companies, however, should focus on what they need to do differently before the law takes effect. The fundamentals remain
Sinosure Claims: Protect First, Negotiate Later (If You Must) Our firm has handled more than 100 Sinosure matters. In none of them has Sinosure reduced the principal amount it demanded. Not once, not ever, not by one dollar. I lead with this because foreign companies almost always ask us the same first question: Can we
International Distribution Agreements: Beware the Eager Distributor In one matter my law firm handled, a manufacturer of industrial coatings signed an exclusive Southeast Asia distribution agreement with a distributor that looked ideal. It had regional warehousing, relevant sales experience, and a management team that sounded sophisticated from the first call. Eighteen months later, the manufacturer
Foreign Contractors and Distributors: Frequently Asked Questions Yesterday’s post explained why the overseas sales shortcut so often backfires: a company calls someone a contractor, agent, or distributor, but the relationship underneath does not match the label. This FAQ builds on that post. It answers the questions we most often hear from companies selling abroad without
Foreign Contractors and Distributors: The International Sales Shortcut That Often Backfires Many companies want foreign sales without a foreign footprint: no subsidiary, no payroll, no local employees, no leased office, no permanent commitment. That can be a sensible way to test a market. But for many businesses, that first move into international sales is also
If your products are made in China and exported from there, your trademarks are already exposed. For many companies, the real risk is not selling in China. It is someone else registering the mark first and using that registration to disrupt manufacturing or exports.
Trademark Squatters Are Coming for Your Supply Chain in Swarms Now For years, trademark squatters followed the same general script. They would identify a foreign brand that had not yet registered its trademark in China, the United States, or another key market. Then they would file first and wait. Eventually, the legitimate brand owner would
Your leverage is usually strongest before your China factory knows you are leaving and before your plans in the new country become obvious to everyone else. That window does not stay open for long. Once it closes, fixing trademark gaps, tooling problems, and bad contracts becomes slower, more expensive, and much more difficult. Sometimes it does not just make the exit harder. Sometimes it makes the exit fail.
Doing Business Internationally: Why Your International Lawyer Should Handle Your Domestic Work Too There are times when you absolutely need a local specialist. A real estate lawyer who knows Oregon title issues, a New York tax lawyer, a California employment litigator. Some legal work is local, and it is a mistake to pretend otherwise. But
