TikTok has been in the news a lot lately, especially since its CEO Shou Zi Chew’s contentious testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce. Americans are responding by asking different questions. Some, presumably including most of those who enjoy, and perhaps even create, TikTok content, ask, “Why are we whipping ourselves into
The past couple of weeks have seen a flurry of important Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) developments. This post flags the things importers need to know now in a way that links back into the bigger picture of what importers need to be doing to achieve UFLPA compliance. Let’s start with the latest UFLPA
Yesterday, the AP published an article entitled Amid Strained US Ties, China Finds Unlikely Friend in Utah. I spoke with an AP journalist last year when they were researching this story, and I know and have spoken to some of the people mentioned in this article. I am not surprised about its tone or its
It was revealed today that China raided a large and well-known American company earlier this week, seizing five of its staff and shutting down its operations in China. This is a big deal and I thought it important I write about it as soon as possible. 1. Factual Background on the Raid My facts regarding
You have a great product that you want to be made in a foreign country about which you know little. What do you do? Do you use a sourcing agent and if you do, how should you pay that agent and what should you have it do? Perhaps most importantly, how should your various contacts
The other day I cleaned up and revised the various email templates our China lawyers sometimes use to answer frequently asked questions sent to us by our clients and potential clients. One of the common questions we get from clients is on how to send to the Chinese side of a deal the contracts our
I have recently been helping a company source and develop a new product in China. This post contains the questions that have arisen during that process, along with my answers. 1. What is the right way to think about China sourcing now? A. Use Supply and Demand to Your Benefit The future will be rough,
Trademark oppositions are proceedings by which parties can formally request the refusal of another party’s trademark application. They are a feature of the trademark laws of just about every country, including China and the United States. Though trademark oppositions serve the same purpose in both China and the United States, the contexts in which they
Our International IP lawyers are always preaching how foreign companies must register their trademarks in China if they are going to be doing business in or producing product in China (see, for example, China Trademarks — Do You Feel Lucky? Do You?). And in most cases, companies should register their trademarks in China now. Right
In China, the United States and the New Normal, I called the US-China trade war the “New Normal” and I predicted a “diminished future for foreign companies” manufacturing in China. I also said that since “the inception of the US-China trade war we have been saying that we do not see its end because we
