With companies falling all over themselves to move their manufacturing out of China to reduce their risks (and their tariffs), my law firm's international manufacturing lawyers are not only hearing from many companies wanting to leave China, but from many companies in big trouble for not having properly engineered their leaving China. In The Single
This post focuses on protecting against intellectual property losses arise from what we call leakage -- the situation where a company has a contract preventing its foreign counter-party (usually a foreign manufacturer) from using its proprietary information, but fails to prevent that information from leaking to third parties not bound by such a contract. When
One of my law firm's international manufacturing lawyers recently completed a template Tooling [Mold] Ownership Agreement for one of our clients that is having its products manufactured in factories located in multiple countries. This Tooling Ownership Agreement is essentially a template for this one client, and it has yet to be particularized for this one
Got an email yesterday with a link to an old discussion on a Reddit group regarding the cost of setting up and doing business in China. The discussion began with someone seeking information regarding the best way to set up a business in China and information about what that will cost. I am not going
Our international litigation lawyers long ago developed template emails for responding to companies that write us about their China product quality problems. The below is the one we use for U.S. companies that write us with a China product quality problem and the contract provided us is not good at all. Most of the time
On August 26, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced plea agreements with Ambiance Apparel ("Ambiance") and its owner Sang Bum "Ed" Noh. The charges against Ambiance and Noh include a duty evasion scheme, which worked like this: Ambiance imported clothing from Asian countries and submitted fraudulent invoices to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
China is (again) in the midst of a concerted government crackdown against foreign companies doing business in China. And if that is not bad enough, if your country has been deemed by China to have disrespected it by speaking out against forced labor or enhancing diplomatic relations with Taiwan, your own expatriate staff themselves may
By Roberto De Vido* The Economist recently noted in a column headline that Forced labour in China presents dilemmas for fashion brands. The writer introduced the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which he described as "a nearly 3m-strong paramilitary-style business in western China" founded in 1954 to provide economic incentives for recently demobilized soldiers
China Contract Damages: How to Give Your Contract Real Teeth When a Chinese factory refused to return our client’s custom molds, it apparently believed possession gave it leverage. Our client had paid for the tooling, owned it outright, and could not continue production without it. Our Chinese litigation counsel filed suit and obtained a freeze
International contract writing is complex. A good contract will ensure that your foreign manufacturer meets your requirements and protect your company when things go wrong. This post can help you understand what goes into the drafting of an effective international manufacturing agreement. International Manufacturing Agreements Our international manufacturing lawyers use a fairly standard initial questionnaire when
