Fred leads Harris Sliwoski’s intellectual property practice and is the coordinator of the firm’s international team. Much of Fred’s practice consists of helping cannabis businesses protect their brands. He also works with entrepreneurs and companies entering the Web3 space, a new frontier for IP law. Prior to joining Harris Sliwoski, Fred worked overseas for more than a decade, in both government and private sector roles. Fred is a regular contributor to the award-winning China Law Blog and Canna Law Blog.
Fred began his career overseas as a U.S. consular officer in Guangzhou, China, where he advocated for fairer treatment of American companies and citizens in China and for stronger intellectual property rights enforcement. After entering the private sector, Fred worked at a Shanghai law firm as a foreign legal advisor and later joined one of the oldest American law firms in China, helping foreign companies navigate the Chinese legal environment. He also led the legal team at a Hong Kong-based brand protection consultancy, spending most of his time out in the field, protecting clients against counterfeiters and fraudsters in Greater China, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
In addition to his IP work, as a native Spanish speaker, Fred works closely with different Harris Sliwoski teams on Latin America and Spain matters. Fred also provides advice to cannabis industry participants and other businesses on import and export transactions.
Fred is an ardent supporter of FC Barcelona—and would be even in the absence of Catalan forebears who immigrated to Puerto Rico in the mid-1800s.
USPTO Trademark Costs Will be Increasing The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) wants to raise certain trademark fees, consistent with its fee-setting authority. If USPTO’s proceeds with their current plans (which it almost certainly will), the costs associated with trademark registration in the United States will go up considerably for trademark owners. In
Forming a Company in Mexico Mexico’s economy is booming, driven by a young and tech-savvy population, its strategic location next to the US, favorable trade deals with North America and the EU, and a government eager to attract foreign investment. This surge has attracted a wave of companies from various industries, all eager to tap
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If you’re not American, U.S. politics can be confusing. And believe us, even if you are American, they’re confusing. The United States has been mired in a partisan struggle for several decades (some would say, for the past 245 years), and during the past 10 years it has been particularly difficult to pass legislation through
With the rapid growth of the Web3 economy shaking up things across legal fields, it is not surprising that the registration of Web3 trademarks is raising novel issues. Web3 businesses should, of course, keep these issues on their radar when crafting brand strategies, but at the same time they must not neglect trademark basics. Similarity
For some brands, trademarking foreign words or phrases might hit just the right note in terms of image. The word “bakery” might make consumers in Seattle think of their local Safeway, while boulangerie evokes flaky, buttery croissants in Paris. Yet the use of foreign words raises certain issues when it comes to registering trademarks in
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