1. How to Avoid Getting Arrested Overseas When my two kids did their foreign study, I told them that they would be bound by the laws in the countries in which they would live/visit and that United States embassies and consulates can do little to help them if arrested. I also talked with them about
One of the things I've done since the inception of this blog is try to help young people in trouble in China. Mostly this has involved my telling thousands of English teachers NOT to cause a stink with their employers that have not paid them. I tell them I understand why they are angering at
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
Many American companies (at least outside California where employee non-competes are generally considered invalid) love non-competes and they use them as a matter of course with most (sometimes all) their employees. Generally, a non-compete agreement or a non-compete provision in an employee contract provides that the employee cannot work for one of the employer's competitors
Most China watchers have spent the past three months trying to decide what a Biden Presidency means for U.S.-China relations. And over the past week, some China watchers also have been watching as mainland Chinese users flocked to discussions on the Clubhouse app, seemingly without sparking concern among Great Firewall monitors. That brief window into
Operating overseas is always difficult. Companies that start out in a new country rarely know the culture or the laws or the rules or the people that can be the deciders between success and failure. It is of course possible to bring in good people who know all of these things, but that can be
Got an email from an American client this morning asking me whether I was aware of how American companies that do "significant" business with China cannot receive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP2) loans. I replied that I was not, because my focus is not on domestic U.S. law or business. But then I started thinking more
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
1. LaoWhy86 on YouTube Spent the last few days catching up on my China reading and viewing, mostly those articles and videos friends, clients and readers wrote me insisting I read. One of the sites I checked out -- at the recommendation of many people -- is LaoWhy86 on YouTube. I'm hooked LaoWhy86 is an
