You have a great product that you want to be made in a foreign country about which you know little. What do you do? Do you use a sourcing agent and if you do, how should you pay that agent and what should you have it do? Perhaps most importantly, how should your various contacts
Trademark oppositions are proceedings by which parties can formally request the refusal of another party’s trademark application. They are a feature of the trademark laws of just about every country, including China and the United States. Though trademark oppositions serve the same purpose in both China and the United States, the contexts in which they
Our International IP lawyers are always preaching how foreign companies must register their trademarks in China if they are going to be doing business in or producing product in China (see, for example, China Trademarks — Do You Feel Lucky? Do You?). And in most cases, companies should register their trademarks in China now. Right
A trademark registrant in China is not required to use the trademark, but that could soon change. If a draft revision of China’s Trademark Law is adopted, registrants may be required to certify their use of their trademark every five years after registration. We have covered other aspects of the proposed law in Draft Revision
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has published a draft revision of the country’s Trademark Law and called for comments from the public. In our first post on the potential implications of the revised law for international brands, we looked at proposed changes to the definition of what constitutes a trademark and the absolute
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has published a draft revision to China’s Trademark Law and called for comments from the public. In this post and others that will follow, we will look at the most significant proposed revisions and consider how they might impact foreign businesses. Today we begin by looking at some
As regular followers of this blog well know, we quite often stress the importance of registering trademarks in China, and the need to do so promptly. See for example China Trademarks: More Useful and More Necessary Than Ever. Today, I want to address some of the questions our China trademark attorneys fairly regularly get about
Green trademarks are running into red lights in China. Just about every application to register a mark that includes the word “green” is being rejected. Rumor has it that concerns over greenwashing are to blame, though given the opaque nature of the application process this cannot be confirmed. Greenwashing is the “practice of making unwarranted
Crypto trademarks are a no-go in China. In line with the country’s prohibitions on cryptocurrencies, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) will not register trademarks that describe crypto goods and/or services. Brands in the crypto space must be mindful of this reality when crafting brand and intellectual property rights protection strategies for China. China
It is a helluva lot easier and cheaper to avoid losing money than to recover money that has already been lost. Whether you use Alibaba or not, there are certain "rules" you should follow when sourcing products from China and those rules include (1) conducting due diligence on your potential supplier, (2) protecting your IP, and (3) having a good contract with your supplier. And yes, all of this applies no matter what the color star your supplier has on Alibaba.
