China Manufacturing and the First to Market Fallacy
Being first to market is usually no protection at all. You must protect your IP from China with IP registrations and appropriate contracts.
Shelter Manufacturing in Mexico: Back by Popular Demand
Mexico shelter manufacturing makes good sense for companies looking to reduce their manufacturing dependency on China and thereby reduce their tariff costs, their shipping costs, and their overall risks.
Using Shelter Companies to Move Manufacturing from China to Mexico
What is required to move your manufacturing from China to Mexico, using shelter manufacturing
Money for Nothing: Paying Chinese Suppliers in Hong Kong or Singapore
Your China manufacturer asks you to send its payment to a bank account in another jurisdiction, such as Hong Kong or Singapore. Should you agree? Probably not. When working with our clients that are having their products manufactured in China (or in various other leading manufacturing countries such as Taiwan, Thailand, Mexico, Poland, Vietnam, India,
On the IMMEDIATE Importance of China Manufacturer Due Diligence
It is more important now than ever before that you conduct due diligence on your China manufacturer. This explains the manufacturer due diligence you need.
How to Reduce Your Foreign Manufactured Product Liability Risks
How often do you stop to think about the ubiquitous “Made in China” label? If you are buying products from China, you should think about this all the time. The same holds true if you are buying your products from any third party manufacturer anywhere. To convince recalcitrant clients of the need for product liability
Solar Panels from China: The Next Forced Labor Battleground
In January 2020, we warned American companies about potential problems stemming from forced labor in China: Forced labor is a reality in China. And if you source from China, you need to keep close tabs on your supply chain to avoid forced labor becoming a part of it. In addition to the ethical and reputational
Giving Your IP to China Out of Love
One of our China IP lawyers tends towards sarcasm, and in cleaning out my email stack I found this email: Another company that loves China so much that they have already given all their IP to a Chinese company with nothing in return. American and European companies seem not to realize that if they teach
The Limited Value of Chinese Factory Indemnification
The Limited Value of Chinese Factory Indemnification Navigating the differences between Western and Chinese legal systems is seldom an easy endeavor, but this is especially true for indemnification clauses. Though these clauses are robust and effective tools in Western countries with mature legal frameworks, their efficacy in China-based manufacturing agreements is considerably murkier. This post
China NNN Agreements: The Initial Questions We Ask
If it seems we have been writing often about China NNN Agreements, you would be right. We are doing so because we have had a troubling increase in companies coming to us after having lost their IP to their Chinese counter-party (usually their Chinese manufacturer) because the NNN Agreements they used were worthless or even