An article from CBCNews, B.C. winery owners facing life in Chinese prison for smuggling, shows how risky it can be to get on the wrong side of China’s customs service. The article is on a Canadian couple facing a long jail term in China for allegedly underreporting the value of the British Columbia wine they
A German lawyer, representing a German company owed lots of money by a Chinese citizen, wrote me last week to discuss retaining my law firm to help the company collect on its debt by seizing U.S and Canada real property held by the Chinese citizen. This lawyer was coming to me because he had liked
As a general rule, the creator of an original work (e.g., a song, movie, or video game) owns the copyright in that work. This is true in the United States and China, and in most every other country in the world. The main exception to the general rule is for “works for hire,” which are
My law firm’s international licensing lawyers have been writing a slew of China technology licensing agreements lately. These deals usually come to us as China licensing deals. Sometimes they come to us as putative joint ventures, but after we explain the difficulties and costs in doing a joint venture, our clients seek to restructure their
China’s new Cybersecurity Law will become effective on June 1, 2017. In addition to focusing on cybersecurity, the law also details how companies are to handle personal information and data. In determining what is allowed and not allowed for handling personal information in China, it is important to examine The Decision on Strengthening Information Protection on Networks (2012), The Guidelines
In Netflix finally finds a way into China, CNN’s Sherisse Pham explains how “six months after admitting defeat in its bid to crack China, Netflix has found a way to tap into the vast market.” For years, Netflix was trying to set itself up in China. For years, Netflix was trying to set itself up
Law students and recent law school graduates are always contacting our China lawyers to ask what they should do to become international lawyers focused on China law. My advice is usually a somewhat rambling dissertation on the need to build a solid legal foundation while constantly working to improve your foreign language skills. I then
It is common for China employers to deliver an offer letter to a potential expat employee stating the employer’s intent to enter into an employment relationship with that employee. An offer letter is typically a 1-2 page document and it usually proposes the employee’s work title, responsibilities and duties, work location, wages, employee benefits, and
Many companies operating in China expect their China-based employees to work overtime whenever needed to “get the job done.” Though imposing these sort of work hours can make sense in their home countries, this mindset is at odds with China’s laws. It gets even worse in China when the employer intends to discipline or termiante
Our China lawyers regularly receive inquiries from companies (and other lawyers) asking if an email they have received from China is legit. The email usually goes something like this: Dear [owner of US trademark]: According to our trademark research team, the following mark has been published in the Chinese Trademark Gazette on [date]. We note
