I recently received a message from an American lawyer interested in working abroad. In this post I share part of my reply, together with some additional comments. While this post is China-focused, most of what I say applies to other countries. It’s also important to note that much of what follows is moot at this
Since launching our Web3 practice group, we have been getting steady inquiries regarding international business and web3 crossover, including China-affiliated companies. Essentially all web3 technologies are international in nature. But unless you are personally interested and invested in cryptocurrencies or your business is heavily dependent on blockchain technology, it is likely that you are part
Next week, I will be a panelist at a Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) event discussing dual nationality. I’ll be sharing the platform with Dr. Dana Raigrodski and David Freeburg. Registration is free, and if you’re an attorney in Washington State, you can earn CLE credit for attending. Interestingly, the event being scheduled on St.
Sourcing product from China just got even riskier. Theses risks have never been higher and they just keep increasing. The Russian war and COVID in China are the key causes for this increased risk and both are nearly certain to get far worse.
When it comes to China IP protection, one of the greatest mistakes a brand can make is failing to register its trademarks in China. An unregistered trademark is a tempting target for trademark squatters (and other bad-faith actors, such as unscrupulous competitors), who register trademarks in the hopes of a payday from legitimate owners. China trademark squatters are looking for victims all the time. What's more, they will take their chances on just about any trademark, regardless of how small the brand, as long as there is a chance their bet will pay off. And given that it's not very costly to register a mark in China, the chances of success don't have to be high for the gamble to make economic sense.
Scammers love operating internationally because it makes them more difficult to track and it also makes suing and collecting more complicated as well. They also seem to work better than domestic scams because the person being scammed too often thinks this is just how things are done in foreign country X because they do not actually know how things are done in foreign country X. Crossing borders increases confusion stemming from a lack of knowledge regarding language, culture, and regulation. All this combines to make international scams widely popular. In this post we discuss some of the more common scams and, most importantly, we discuss how to avoid getting scammed.
As the Chinese government continues to expand its power and get more concerned about its slowing economy and how it is viewed by its citizens, it just keeps getting tougher on foreign businesses that are not 100% abiding by its laws. China is right now in one of its perpetual crackdowns on foreign companies doing business in China. This makes now a good time for foreign companies doing business in China or with China to determine their China risks. The following questions are a good starting point for making that calculation.
Last week, I wrote about how Chinese companies use fake investment scams to trick foreign companies into turning over their IP. This post goes into additional detail regarding the China fake investment scam, but it also goes beyond it to ecompass the various IP theft scams our China lawyers have been seeing in the last couple of years.
One of the more sophisticated and costly scams we see is what we call the "investing in your business to steal your IP scam." We see this scam maybe 4-5 times a year, mostly before they happen and mostly before the company realizes a scam is about to take place.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine starkly illustrates the risk of cozying up to China, which Latam governments and countries should heed. The international community's strong repudiation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlights the risks of snuggling up to autocracies, in particular those with military adventurism in mind. As governments and companies in Latam increase their China exposure, they should be mindful of these risks, with Chinese characteristics.
