As we have written a number of times, the essential first step in any China IP strategy is to register your trademarks with China’s Trademark Office. Because China is a first-to-file country, until you register a trademark in China you have no rights in that trademark in China. But a trademark registration alone goes only
I wrote the below article many years ago with Gregory Buyoff, a good friend, a brilliant international IP lawyer, and the most knowledgeable person I’ve ever known on Vietnam history. Intellectual Property Magazine published this article, but it no longer shows up on its website so I am running it here (with a few updates),
As we have written many times over the years, if you are selling goods into China, sourcing goods from China, or just doing business in/with China, you should probably register trademarks in China for your brand names and logos. China is a first-to-file country and it does not require evidence of prior use. This means
A few weeks ago, a client asked our law firm to handle a relatively routine domestic matter for them. We told them we do not handle such matters and we gave them a short list of excellent attorneys that do. The client expressed surprise at our unwillingness to take on their matter and remarked on
Fake, Woeful, and “Captured” China Lawyers From non-existent “lawyers” to legitimate ones with limitations on confidentiality, navigating China’s legal landscape has become increasingly risky. Rising tensions between China and the West have fueled a surge in fake lawyer scams, with unsuspecting SMEs often drawn in by unrealistically low fees. But this bargain-basement approach often backfires
When someone emails one of our international manufacturing lawyers asking us what they should be considering to protect themselves when manufacturing overseas, we typically respond with something like the following: Our clients that manufacture product in China/Vietnam/Mexico/India/Thailand/Taiwan/Malysia (or wherever it is they are asking about) typically use us for some or all of the following
Trademarks are not limited to words or drawings and can include sensory marks such as colors, smells and sounds. In the US, the USPTO recognizes sounds as trademarks if the sounds make you think of a company’s product or service. MGM’s roaring lion, Homer Simpson’s D’OH, and 20th Century Fox’s fanfare are all famous sounds
1. Sorry, But Overseas Factory Problems are Likely YOUR Fault The genesis for this post is an excellent post written by Renaud Anjoran and a series of Linkedin comments on that post. The post is on Renaud’s Quality Inspection Blog and it’s called 28 Common Problems Chinese Suppliers Cause Importers. Renaud is the long-term owner of
As many readers of this blog already know, words in Latin script (including, of course, English words) can be registered in China as trademarks. But can you register Chinese character trademarks in the United States or the EU? This is an important question for Chinese brands, of course, but also for US and EU brands
1. Chinese Manufacturers Will Copy and Sell Your Products; It’s What They Do Literally every single day this past week, the international IP lawyers at my law firm received at least one email from an American/European/Australasian company on how their Chinese manufacturer was selling their products at wholesale and/or at retail to others. These emails
