Our China IP lawyers have lately been seeing a steady increase in China design patent filings, as Western companies increasingly come to understand the need to be proactive in protecting their IP from China. We file most design patents to protect product designs, but some are filed for defensive purposes. The defensive design patents are
The one thing I know for sure about China is, I will never know China. It’s too big, too old, too diverse, too deep. There’s simply not enough time. – Anthony Bourdain, On Parts Unknown First Kate Spade and now Anthony Bourdain. What the hell is happening? How incredibly sad. I feel compelled to repost
Not a week goes by without one of the China attorneys at my firm getting an email or a phone call from someone (usually an American or a European) wanting us to help them complete a house sale to a Chinese citizen or with some plan for selling houses to Chinese citizens. They want to
We hear so many half-truths and misconceptions about registered capital that it’s hard to keep track of them all, let alone dispel them. Not for lack of trying, though: see e.g. China Company Law Myths: Registered Capital and Personal Liability and China WFOE Minimum Capital Requirements: The Goldilocks Rule. Without further ado, following please find
China does a lousy job policing bad-faith trademark registrations and that makes trademark squatting a profitable and low-risk activity in China. Those unfamiliar with Chinese trademark practice might think the problem is China’s trademark law. Not so. China’s Trademark Law has a number of provisions that could easily be invoked to combat trademark squatting, including
Foreign companies doing business in China must onboard their employee hires correctly. Unfortunately, there are many myths that make doing this less likely. This post briefly explains four common and potentially dangerous China hiring myths. 1. Hiring Without a Chinese Legal Entity (WFOE or Joint Venture) is Fine if You Bring on Only Independent Contractors.
Forming a WFOE in China and then operating that business in China is difficult and expensive. See e.g., Forming a China WFOE: Ten Things To Consider and See also Doing Business in China Without a WFOE: Will the Defendant Please Rise on why having a WFOE is a must if you will be doing business
The Chinese government is constantly working to push Chinese manufacturing up the value chain. More recently, the push from the central government has become more formalized, resulting in the 2015 issuance of the State Council manufacturing modernization manifesto: Made in China 2025《中国制造2025》(State Council, July 7, 2015). Made in China 2025 focuses less on the types
I did an interview the other day with GlobalAutoIndustry.com, on China IP Challenges for Automotive Suppliers, dealing mostly with automotive high-tech, which in most respects is no different from high tech generally. The below is a transcript of that interview. For anyone who has been living in a cave, the auto industry has changed, is
Dual Language China Contracts: What You Must Know I cannot believe this is still happening, but it is. The “this” to which I am referring is foreign companies signing dual language contracts without knowing exactly what the Chinese language portion of their contract says. This is dangerous for the reasons given below. The Pitfalls of Dual
