DDP Shipping Risks: What Boise Cascade’s Guilty Plea Means for U.S. Buyers
The Boise Cascade guilty plea shows why opaque DDP shipping can expose U.S. buyers to customs investigations, unpaid duties, penalties, and criminal risk.
Protecting Your Artwork Internationally: What Artists Need to Do Before the Work Travels
Artwork can cross borders faster than the legal protections behind it. This guide explains how artists can protect ownership, control overseas production, register key rights, safeguard their names, and respond when galleries, manufacturers, licensees, or counterfeiters misuse their work.
Your China Employee Signed the Vacation Policy. You Can Still Lose.
Your China Employee Signed the Vacation Policy. You Can Still Lose. Every year, foreign employers in China face the same claim. Their handbook says unused vacation expires at year-end, every employee signed an acknowledgment, HR sent the reminders, and payroll kept a leave spreadsheet. Then an employee resigns or is terminated and demands compensation for
The RedNote Contract Lesson for Companies Doing Business in China
Your China contract may look comprehensive and still bind the wrong company. This article uses the RedNote dispute and two real manufacturing matters to show why contracts must reach the entities that actually control the factory, tooling, technical information, and money, and what can happen when they do not.
Five Practical Steps Foreign Brands Should Take to Prepare for China’s New Trademark Law
China adopted a revised Trademark Law on June 26, 2026. The new law will take effect on January 1, 2027. Much of the commentary surrounding the revised law has focused on the statutory changes themselves. Foreign companies, however, should focus on what they need to do differently before the law takes effect. The fundamentals remain
Sinosure Claims: Protect First, Negotiate Later (If You Must)
Sinosure Claims: Protect First, Negotiate Later (If You Must) Our firm has handled more than 100 Sinosure matters. In none of them has Sinosure reduced the principal amount it demanded. Not once, not ever, not by one dollar. I lead with this because foreign companies almost always ask us the same first question: Can we
Enforcing or Challenging a Foreign Judgment in the United States
Learn how foreign judgments are recognized, enforced, and challenged in U.S. courts, including key defenses, asset tracing, and collection strategy.
International Distribution Agreements: Beware the Eager Distributor
International Distribution Agreements: Beware the Eager Distributor In one matter my law firm handled, a manufacturer of industrial coatings signed an exclusive Southeast Asia distribution agreement with a distributor that looked ideal. It had regional warehousing, relevant sales experience, and a management team that sounded sophisticated from the first call. Eighteen months later, the manufacturer
Foreign Contractors and Distributors: Frequently Asked Questions
Foreign Contractors and Distributors: Frequently Asked Questions Yesterday’s post explained why the overseas sales shortcut so often backfires: a company calls someone a contractor, agent, or distributor, but the relationship underneath does not match the label. This FAQ builds on that post. It answers the questions we most often hear from companies selling abroad without
Foreign Contractors and Distributors: The International Sales Shortcut That Often Backfires
Foreign Contractors and Distributors: The International Sales Shortcut That Often Backfires Many companies want foreign sales without a foreign footprint: no subsidiary, no payroll, no local employees, no leased office, no permanent commitment. That can be a sensible way to test a market. But for many businesses, that first move into international sales is also