I spoke with a new client yesterday regarding the importance of his company obtaining trademarks in China. At the end of the conversation, the client was so “psyched” about getting the trademarks, he asked if there are ever times a company does not need to register its brand name as a trademark in China. Though
July 12, 2023, Update I almost never update and re-run a blog post, but this will be the second time I have done so with this one, which shows how relevant, yet ever-changing the issue of China factory pricing is — especially since I updated it only about a month ago. Since I wrote this
It’s no secret that China is the world’s leading source of counterfeit goods. Barely a day goes by without an American or European company contacting one of our intellectual property lawyers to get counterfeit products removed from a Chinese e-commerce site. Even though it may seem there’s no way to protect your brand from counterfeiters
Our international trademark attorneys recently won an appeal of an earlier refusal of a China trademark registration application. This case demonstrates the complex strategies often required to secure trademark protection for brands in China. As execution of these strategies can take time, brands willing to take the long view are likely to see better results.
Color claims for trademarks should in general be avoided. To be clear, there are situations when claiming color on a trademark registration application makes sense, but these situations are not common. What’s more, color claims might create issues in the future, if you stop using your trademark exactly as registered. Claiming a color or colors
Consolidation of trademark actions is a much-needed procedural avenue in China, one that would make the country’s trademark system more efficient and fairer. Actions that concern the same trademark, such as applications, oppositions, and cancellations, are generally not consolidated, wreaking all sorts of havoc for brands. This even though the Trademark Law has provisions that
China Domain Name Scams If your company has done anything in China (even just sending someone there to meet with a supplier), you have probably received a somewhat official-looking email offering to “help” you stop someone from taking your domain registry in China or maybe somewhere else in the world. Picture this: Your company finally
Well-known trademarks enjoy protection under Chinese law. This protection is the closest China comes to protecting unregistered trademarks. However, the circumstances under which such protection is afforded are limited, given that the standard for a trademark being considered well-known is exceedingly high. To illustrate just how stringent the standard can be, consider a situation I
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
