The Ten Keys to Preventing Counterfeiting of Your Products
The ten things you should be doing now to prevent (or at least minimize) the counterfeiting of your products.
China NNN Agreements: Essential and NOT for Trade Secrets
When my law firm’s international manufacturing lawyers work on international manufacturing arrangements, we never just draft a “straight NDA.” Instead, we draft a “non-disclosure/non-use/non-circumvention agreement” that we refer to as an NNN Agreement. Why? Because a Western-style NDA is worthless or worse for China. For China, you need a China-specific NNN Agreement. 1. China NNN
AI and Copyright in China
Ownership of copyright by nonhumans is not allowed in China, but increasing AI capabilities could spur changes in legal thinking.
China Copyright Protection for Applied Art
With no explicit provisions in China's copyright law for the protection of works of applied art, courts have until now used different approaches when considering the issue. In some cases, protection has been extended based on the protections afforded to works of fine art. However, in last year's Guiding Case No. 157 (指导案例157号), the Supreme People's Court (SPC) endorsed the view that works of applied art are entitled to copyright protection in their own right.
China Trademark Squatters: A Danger for All
When it comes to China IP protection, one of the greatest mistakes a brand can make is failing to register its trademarks in China. An unregistered trademark is a tempting target for trademark squatters (and other bad-faith actors, such as unscrupulous competitors), who register trademarks in the hopes of a payday from legitimate owners. China trademark squatters are looking for victims all the time. What's more, they will take their chances on just about any trademark, regardless of how small the brand, as long as there is a chance their bet will pay off. And given that it's not very costly to register a mark in China, the chances of success don't have to be high for the gamble to make economic sense.
Chinese Free Look Schemes to Steal your IP
Last week, I wrote about how Chinese companies use fake investment scams to trick foreign companies into turning over their IP. This post goes into additional detail regarding the China fake investment scam, but it also goes beyond it to ecompass the various IP theft scams our China lawyers have been seeing in the last couple of years.
Investing in Your Business to Steal your IP
One of the more sophisticated and costly scams we see is what we call the "investing in your business to steal your IP scam." We see this scam maybe 4-5 times a year, mostly before they happen and mostly before the company realizes a scam is about to take place.
International Distribution Contracts in Real Life
Our job as lawyers is to write an enforceable international distribution contract to protect them, both in the foreign country and at home.
The Four Best Ways to Protect Your IP from China
This post sets out the four most important steps you should take to protect your IP from China. These steps will minimize the likelihood of you having a China IP problem and maximize your chances of prevailing should such a problem actually arise.
Protecting Your Product From China: The 101
This post explains how to protect your product from China when having your product made in China. One of the first things our international manufacturing lawyers do when working with a company having products made in China is to figure out the contracts and IP registrations that will ensure our client's intellectual property and other rights will be protected against its Chinese manufacturer and the rest of the world.