Not sure why, but I have been dealing a lot lately with China trademarks. I think it might be because in the last year or so, we have seen an increase in the ratio of our clients seeking to sell product into China as opposed to manufacturing it. The key to understanding Chinese trademark law… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: November 2009
Wine And Taxes And How To Do Business In China.
Posted in Legal NewsEvan Osnos’s most recent New Yorker article [this is just an abstract, you will need to pay $4.99 or subscribe to see the full story] is so chock full of juicy China law and business (and even tax) tidbits I just know I am going to be rambling a bit in this post. So to… Continue Reading
Setting Up Your Worldwide Internet Sales Empire. China Too.
Posted in China BusinessMy law firm represents a fairly substantial number of companies that sell product worldwide over the internet. This stems from many years ago when we represented about forty such companies in an international lawsuit against one of the largest third party credit card processing companies. This work has given us considerable insight into the legal… Continue Reading
China’s Stunning Lack Of Brands.
Posted in China BusinessNot so long ago, I spoke at a China round-table where someone asked me what sort of US businesses Chinese companies are interested in buying. I mentioned how Chinese companies typically buy US companies for one of two reasons: expertise or brand name. Later that night I thought about how Chinese companies should be buying… Continue Reading
China Sports Blogs. Not Quite Life Itself, But….
Posted in Recommended Reading“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game.” Jacques Barzun I love watching and reading about sports. Always have. Always will. Growing up, I never missed school unless the Cubs were on the television. No way was I going to waste a… Continue Reading
WHEN To Register Your China Trademark.
Posted in Legal NewsI am 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 now. China is… Continue Reading
On China Litigation And Getting Harmonized To Death. Ugh.
Posted in Legal NewsI am going to have to be vague almost to the point of incoherence here, but if you keep reading, you will understand why. About three years ago, we brought a very large lawsuit in China, using one of our favorite Chinese law firms. We are representing the plaintiff on this case and we are… Continue Reading
China’s Silcon Sweatshops. And Why It Matters To Your Business.
Posted in China BusinessGlobal Post is running a five part series on China’s high-tech sweat shops (h/t Danwei). Part I is entitled Silicon Sweatshops and from there you will find the link to the other four parts. For those who deal with China every day (or even if you have read the excellent book, The China Price) the… Continue Reading
Apple In China (Again) And Why SMEs Usually Do Better Faster.
Posted in China BusinessYesterday I did a post on Apple’s alleged iPhone failure in China, entitled, “The iPhone In China: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” I say “alleged,” because though iPhone sales have not soared in China, I remain confident Apple will do just fine there. After I ran that post, I received a couple emails with “inside… Continue Reading
The iPhone In China: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.
Posted in China BusinessAt least once a week, I will sarcastically say, “I’m from the government and I’m are here to help you.” I love blaming the government for just about everything. But even I have my limits. In its post, “The iPhone debate: what can Apple do?” China Herald has a nascent debate going on regarding Apple’s… Continue Reading
Travel Tech for China. My Idiosyncratic Views.
Posted in China Travel“And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear….” Space Oddity, by David Bowie I love technology and I am constantly on the road. I definitely fit the definition of “early adapter” and my friends are constantly asking me what technology they should be buying, oftentimes for travel. I just got an email on… Continue Reading
Will China Create The Next Silicon Valley?
Posted in China BusinessWhenever I get together with tech people who have been doing business with China for a few months, they seem to throw out expressions about China like “next Silicon Valley” or “going to be even bigger than Silicon Valley.” But whenever I get together with tech people who have been in China for years, they… Continue Reading
China Negotiating Strategy. An Expert’s Perspective.
Posted in Legal NewsAndrew Hupert over at the Chinese Negotiation blog did an interesting and helpful post on negotiating strategy in China in a post entitled, US-China Variation of Prisoners Dilemma — The Factory Game. In his post, Andrew, who teaches at New York University’s (NYU) Shanghai campus, discusses in detail the experiment he did with his students… Continue Reading
China’s Microsoft Case. Everyone Just Move Along.
Posted in Legal NewsI have a new rule. When I get three or more emails on a topic, and at least one of them says something like the following: “Dan, I am sure you are familiar with the recent Microsoft case and already planning to blog on it, but….” I am going to blog on it even though… Continue Reading
Beware The Potemkin Chinese Company.
Posted in Recommended ReadingAnyone and everyone who does business in or with China needs to read these two posts at The Black China Hand. “If I Build a Potemkin Village Will They Come?” and “How to Start a Chinese Company.” The first post is about a Chinese company that sought to hire the Black China Hand to make… Continue Reading
The Talent Difference Between China’s Tier 1 And Tier 2 Cities. Let’s Get All Snobby About It.
Posted in China BusinessChina Vortex did an intriguing post a couple of months ago on why China’s Tier 2 cities will always be second tier (and I just found this completed but unpublished post today). The post is entitled, “China’s Biggest Challenge for Developing the West,” and it essentially argues that the Tier 1 cities, essentially Shanghai and… Continue Reading
Manufacturing Product In China. Trust Yet Verify.
Posted in Legal NewsIn going through old emails this weekend, I came across a rather old email from a long time client/friend, entitled, “You should write about these idiots.” I swear this is his language not mine. Anyway, attached was a link to a 2008 USA Today article, entitled, “The Pitfalls of China’s Rough Capitalism” that is still… Continue Reading
Understanding Labor And Employment Law In China.
Posted in Recommended ReadingI am three-quarters of the way through the book, Understanding Labor and Employment Law in China, by Ronald C. Brown. Brown is a Professor of Law and the Chair of the Pacific-Asian Legal Studies Committee at University of Hawaii Law School and can confidently state that it is a great book. But it is not… Continue Reading
China’s Corruption Ranking Is Middle Of The Pack. Again.
Posted in China BusinessTransparency International just came out with its 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index. I love these things and I think this one, in particular, tends to be quite accurate. Now I am not saying any of these surveys are completely accurate, because there really is no one great measuring stick for corruption and, even if there were,… Continue Reading
China Food And Drug Outsourcing Gets Criminal. Fast.
Posted in Legal NewsMy law firm has in the last few months been called in a couple of times to assist other law firms in defending federal criminal actions here in the United States arising from Chinese imports. These two cases are still very much pending so I cannot discuss them in any detail. However, they have taught… Continue Reading
China, Glocalization, And The Specter Of Product Liability And More.
Posted in Legal NewsChina Observer just did a fascinating post, entitled, “Reverse Innovation: Made in China – For China,” on foreign companies innovating for China. The post is written entirely from a business perspective and its gist is that because you cannot just take a high priced product made for a wealthy country and plop it into a… Continue Reading
China’s Food Chain. Nobody Trusts Nobody.
Posted in Recommended ReadingThe Eileen Eats blog has an excellent, and very scary post up on the state of Chinese food. It is entitled, “Food Safety– Can’t let your guard down,” and its money quote is as follows: Hung Huang, chief executive of the China Interactive Media Group in China, said recently in an article in the New… Continue Reading
The Nine Nations Of China. Help Me Out Here.
Posted in Recommended ReadingAtlantic Magazine has a short article up, entitled, “The Nine Nations of China.” It is written by Patrick Chovanec, a professor at Tsinghua University, and it basically consists of an interactive map that seeks to make the well-worn (and pretty well-known) point that China is not monolithic (did I just hear someone call for stopping… Continue Reading
How To Succeed In China: Bribe Everyone, Pay No Taxes And Break The Law.
Posted in Legal NewsI have been in a long running discussion with an international lawyer (with whom I have worked for nearly a decade and whom I greatly respect) in an emerging market country who contends American companies are too straight-laced to succeed in places like China. And by places like China, he would mean a place where… Continue Reading
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