China Trademarks and Your Chinese Distributor
Your China distribution contract should contain provisions that protect your brand name in China.
China Trade Dress and Unfair Competition Law
Close your eyes, and imagine that when you open them you have been magically transported to another country and you are inside a McDonald's. How do you know you're in a McDonald's? Surely you would know without having to see the name McDonald's or the famous Golden Arches logo. Would you even know that you
Trademark Squatting: A Dying "Trade"?
I attended an excellent IPWatchdog webinar this past week on trademark squatting, presented by Ai-Leen Lim of AWA Asia. You should watch the whole thing, but here are some thoughts and takeaways. Trademark squatting is one of the biggest problems when it comes to intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in China. Basically, squatting occurs when
China Copyright Law: It Pays to Register
If you truly want to protect your content in China, register your copyright in China
Must I Register My Company Name as a Trademark in China?
No two China trademark strategies are the same, but one thing is pretty much a constant: You should register the company's original English name. Before we go on, a clarification: I use "English name" as shorthand, but these names are often in other languages, or simply be a random collection of Latin letters. Names in
The Problem with Online Trademark Services for China
The Problem with Online Trademark Services for China Once or twice a month, my law firm's international trademark lawyers are contacted by companies whose China trademark registrations were mishandled by online trademark services. In all instances, the registration problems stem from online services claiming they can register trademarks globally, including in China. These claims are
China Trademarks: Register via Madrid or in China?
The Madrid Protocol can simplify a large international trademark portfolio, but China’s subclass system, five-year dependency rule, short refusal deadlines, and enforcement procedures create added risks. For companies that manufacture, sell, or enforce their trademarks in China, a direct CNIPA filing is usually the better choice.
China Distribution Contracts: The Basics
China Distribution Contracts: Same-Same but Different Ever since COVID, our China lawyers have been seeing a big increase in foreign companies entering into distribution contracts with Chinese distributors, due mostly to the difficulties and risks foreign companies face when they go into China directly. Many of the companies that come to us to draft their