China Law Blog

Beginning Wednesday, July 9, and for four straight nights, the Discovery Channel will be running Ted Koppel's "People's Republic of Capitalism." The series will focus on China's economic growth and what this means for the United States. Much of the filiming is in Chongqing.

Koppel is a good and fair minded journalist, so I would expect this series to be at least decent. To learn more about it, go here and here.

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Managing Intellectual Property Magazine will, on June 19 at noon Eastern time (US) be putting on a Free Webinar on Anti-Counterfeiting Strategies, entitled “Global Anti-Counterfeiting Strategies: Tackling Trans-shipment Issues Using Customs and Other Enforcement Techniques.”

The scheduled speakers are:

-- James Nurton, Editor of Managing IP

-- Paul Rawlinson and Andy Leck of Baker & McKenzie.

-- Toe Su Aung, General Counsel at BATMark Limited

Bruce Longbottom, Associate General Counsel, Trademarks, Copyrights & Information Technology atEli Lilly and Company

The forum will address IP protection and enforcement issues and will include a Q&A session.

To read more or to sign up, go here.

There is a good mix of speakers and this webinar will obviously have relevance to many who do business in China. It being free is icing on the cake.

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"When you cease to strive to understand then you will know without understanding." - Caine

I have yet to see the movie Kung Fu Panda, but the always excellent How The World Works, in a post entitled, "Kung Fu Panda's Inside Joke," has just given me another reason why I should. According to How The World Works, the film references both Chinese art and kung fu:

The animators of this very good-looking film have a lot of fun with classical Chinese landscapes and other familiar tropes of traditional Chinese art. But one scene jumps out. Po, the panda with unlikely martial arts aspirations, has made it inside a temple storing a variety of legendary weapons and other hallowed items suffused with kung fu lore. Po, the kind of geek who memorizes every possible piece of minutiae about his chosen obsession, shudders with delight as he rushes from one object to another.

Beyond that, it may help explain why counterfeiting is not viewed so unfavorably in China:

Finally, he comes to a painting depicting an ancient exploit by kung fu heroes. He exclaims: "I've only seen paintings of this painting!"

My kids laughed, as did most of the theater, just because the line sounds funny all by itself, without any context other than that delivered by Jack Black's voice. But taken in the context of classical Chinese painting, it's an even better inside joke. For many centuries of Chinese industry, the great paintings of the past were faithfully copied by the great painters of each successive age. The earliest versions of many of these classics have been lost to the ravages of time -- we know them only through their reproductions.

Yet those reproductions are not regarded as mere copies, but as masterworks in their own right. Indeed, there is even a theory that the supposed Chinese lack of respect for copyright can be connected to the classical Chinese reverence for copying. "I've only seen paintings of these paintings" is a joke written by someone who knows what they're joking about, and it is not the only such gem in "Kung Fu Panda."

I can hardly wait to take my ten year old to this movie.

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I will be speaking today at an International Debt Collection conference being put on jointly by the International Law Section and the Remedies Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. I will be joined on the podium by Hon. Samuel Bufford [pdf], US Bankruptcy Court, Constance Kim, Connon Wood Scheidemantle LLP, Lawrence Peitzman, Peitzman Weg & Kempinsky LLP. For more information, go here.

Should be fun.

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Just read a post about a Wen Jiabao interview on the Time China blog and something really hit me from that post: "sixteen million buildings destroyed." Some people can understand the Sichuan earthquake devastation through personal stories, but I am at heart a numbers guy and that number hit me right in the heart. It is not the number of destroyed buildings itself that move me; hearing that number allows me to vividly understand the human impact of such massive (and now quantified) physical devastation.

The need is obviously massive and unremitting. Here is a post with links on how to donate to earthquake relief and also to Myanmar.

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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
Bertrand Russell

I was going to write a brilliant post on Sharon Stone's attributing the Sichuan earthquake to "possible" karma, but since David Wolf over at Silicon Hutong beat me to it in his post entitled, "A Perspective on 'Karma,'" I hereby fully incorporate by reference all that David said, as though fully set forth herein.

Having done that, however, I cannot resist pilfering word for word, the best part of David's post, dealing with how best to handle Ms. Stone's comments:

There are, therefore, two correct responses to this situation:

1. Pointedly ignore Ms. Stone and others like her; or

2. Set out to clarify the record.

I would never defend Ms. Stone and what she said. Personally, I find every word of her diatribe, the setting, and the political convictions that underlie it, utterly detestable.

But by attacking her personally we miss an opportunity to debate the point.

And the debate is what is important. Not the source of the opinion that begets it.

At the same time, go ahead and label me naive, but I find it hard to believe that blind hatred of the Chinese people has reached such a fever pitch in Hollywood that Ms. Stone should have felt emboldened to attribute widespread death, injury and homelessness (including, no doubt, to Tibetans) as some sort of comeuppance? I prefer to think Ms. Stone's views on this are in the extreme minority, even in Hollywood. For other ways to treat Ms. Stone, check out this Daniel Drezner post entitled, "The Blog Post That Writes Itself."

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A few months ago, while in Seoul, Korea, I had an excellent discussion with a Korean-American friend of mine. This friend was born and grew up in the United States, but has been living in Korea for the last ten years or so. The day we met, he had seen a guy slapping around his girlfriend in broad daylight and nobody was doing anything other than watching and dialing (probably the police) on their cell phones. My friend walked over, told the boyfriend to stop it, and was soon joined by others doing the same. Kitty Genovese.

My friend then launched into a discourse regarding Big Government and the difference between Koreans and Americans. Koreans, he said, count on government for so much more than Americans. So much so, he said, that certain things "we Americans" take for granted, Koreans do not. My friend was convinced that the reason nobody stepped in to help the poor woman getting slapped around was because it never really occurred to the bystanders to do anything other than call the police. The police stop these things, not citizens. He went on to say that it is the same way when there is a natural disaster in Korea. The people pretty much wait around for the government to help. I protested a bit by pointing out how iIndustrious Koreans tend to be and he agreed. "Look at how Korean shopkeepers in the US defend their shops in the US, he said. That does not happen here in Korea, because here they just rely on government to step in. Even blood donations, he said, do not really occur much unless and until the government makes clear it is necessary. The Korean people, he said, are self-reliant in terms of themselves and their own families, but when it comes to aid for others, they see that as almost strictly the government's province. I do not know whether what my friend was saying is true of Korea or not, but it does make sense.

"We Americans" do tend to pride ourselves on our self-reliance [go to this post if you want to understand why nobody I know from either my hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan, or my wife's hometown of Peru, Illinois, will vote for Obama and for why I am going on record as saying he cannot win the general election]. The American ethos is to call on government only when absolutely necessary. When it comes to charitable giving, the United States is by far "The Most Charitable Nation in the World." There have been complaints regarding the small sum given by the U.S. government to China earthquake relief, but that only belies a misunderstanding of how such things are done here. When all is said and done, I have no doubt that the United States (and by this I mean the sum total of the government, companies, and private citizens) will be at or near the top in giving to China earthquake relief.

Which brings me back to China and a post at the Black and White Cat entitled, "Beijing’s blood bank is full." The title says it all; so many people have donated blood in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake, Beijing no longer can handle any more. I think this post is very telling. It says that when the Chinese government cannot handle a crisis on its own, the people will step in.

What does this mean for China now and in the future? Is this a change or is it just that reality is finally getting its due? How will the earthquake and its aftermath affect China going forward? I would love to hear from readers as I feel I am already in way over my head.

UPDATE: Just saw these posts, "Chinese netizens continue to monitor earthquake corruption," and "Tianya: The most bad-ass Sichuan earthquake rescue team," over at Blogging for China. Do these actions have the same meaning as the blood donations?

ANOTHER UPDATE: Modern Lei Feng just did an absolutely fascinating/horrifying post, entitled, "Differences in Foreign Policy/Differences in Personal Decisions," detailing a girlfriend beating incident he witnessed and wondering how that ties in with China's foreign policy. A must read.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Interesting post at Newsweek's Countdown To Beijing Blog, entitled, "What the Quake Means for Civil Society: Jiang Wenran." Posits that a civil society is developing in the wake of the quake and explains why so many are missing this.

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Just got an email that combines two of my favorite things: doing good and pumping up my United Airlines mileage plus account. The email is from United Airlines and it says the following:

Mileage Plus customers who donate $50USD or more will receive 500 miles as a one-time bonus. The United Airlines Foundation will support customers' donations with up to 5 million miles for this bonus mile offer. In order to receive the miles, email your electronic American Red Cross receipt to ChinaRelief-Miles@united.com.

It's a can of corn.

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Crossroads blog has a whole slew of posts up detailing various ways we can help Sichuan's earthquake victims, ranging from sending money to orphanages to aiding with logistics. If you want to help but are unsure as to how, read the more recent posts on this blog and pick something that matches your abilities and your desires. (h/t to Shanghaiist which has been doing an absolutely superlative job covering the quake. I have been meaning to do a five China blogs I would require if stranded on a desert island post for some time now and every time I write that post in my head I have included Shanghaiist. Its work of late only reaffirms why. Major kudos.)

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Shanghaiist just posted on how you can help the victims of China's recent earthquake. Here's the info, straight from Shanghaiist:

For those who are looking to contribute to current aid efforts underway, you can now donate money to the Red Cross Society of China which has formed a disaster relief working group to be dispatched to the earthquake-stricken Wenchuan County in Sichuan.

They have also published an emergency relief hotline, along with bank account information to receive donations to assist their cause:

Account name: Red Cross Society of China
开户单位：中国红十字会总会

For those who want to donate in RMB: you can send money to the RMB account at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China branch below:
人民币开户行: 中国工商银行 北京分行东四南支行
人民币账号: 0200001009014413252

For those who want to donate in foreign currency, you can send money to the foreign currency account at the CITIC Bank branch below:
外币开户行：中信银行酒仙桥支行
外币账号: 7112111482600000209

Hotline: (8610) 65139999
Online donations: Red Cross Society of China website: www.redcross.org.cn
Click the tab for online donations

We will add others to this as more becomes known.

UPDATE: Thanks to all who have provided additional methods for contributing. CLB has no real knowledge regarding any of these charities nor any real expertise at determining which of these charities make the most sense or which is "the best." In other words, you all are on your own for that.

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National Public Radio's All Things Considered Show will be broadcasting from Chengdu, China, from May 19 through May 23. (h/t to Barking At The Sun, which is itself based in Chengdu).

For years, my firm had been getting calls from software companies looking to go into Chengdu, but almost without exception, none of them did. Then, maybe around six months ago, we started getting calls from software companies that were doing more than just thinking about going into China, they were ready to go. Many of these companies are going in with joint ventures where their US software is licensed (with all sorts of IP protections) to the joint venture for use/sale in China and the joint venture sells, markets and supports the software in China and also engages in software development for new or improved product for both China and the United States/Europe.

Chengdu is hot these days and NPR will be there.

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On Monday, April 28, 2008, The Asia Society is putting on a China speaking event, entitled, "Product Safety: Understanding the 'Made in China' Brand" This will be from 6:30 pm until 8:00 pm at the Asia Society and Museum, 8th Floor, 725 Park Avenue, New York City.

The event is described as follows:

As China prepares for its August 2008 Olympics ‘coming out party,’ lingering concerns over the safety of the ‘Made in China’ brand remain. Even as China publicizes efforts to ensure product safety and reassure consumers, new incidents and ‘Not Made in China’ brands have cropped up. In many product safety cases, there is no easy target at whom to point a blaming finger. Laxity of government supervision in China plays a role, as do conditions in China’s factory and supply chain systems. Domestic and foreign companies have learned that they must proactively involve themselves in sourcing chains, and many companies are rapidly changing their approaches. This program, the second in Asia Society’s series of programs looking at the effects of the Olympics on China, will analyze all of these issues while providing future prospects and advice for companies, governments, and consumers alike.

The speakers will be:

Alexandra Harney, the South China Correspondent for the Financial Times and author of the book, The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage.

Paul Midler, Founder and President of China Advantage and the force behind the always excellent The China Game blog.

Alan H. Schoem, Senior Vice President, Global Product Risk Practice, Marsh.

Daniel Rosen, a Principal at China Strategic Advisory, will moderate.

I am plugging this event because I know two of the three speakers and I know them to be extremely knowledgeable regarding China product production. Paul Midler coined the by now familiar phrase, "quality fade" to describe the deterioration in product quality that so often occurs with product made in China. Paul and I have had many great discussions (both live and online) as to what causes the fade, what can be done to help prevent it, and whether it is inevitable and I can unequivocally state that Paul knows China manufacturing. I just recently finished reading Ms. Harney's book, The China Price, and I will review it here shortly. The book is an inside look at Chinese manufacturing and it leaves absolutely no doubt that Ms. Harney knows whereof she speaks on this topic.

I am certain this will be a great event and I would love to hear about this event from anyone who goes.

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Just got the call this morning and I will be live on air in about three minutes. The question is whether your leader (in my case, President Bush) should go to the Olympic opening ceremony. My answer will be yes. I say yes because I want the US to be on good terms with China because I see Iran, North Korea, and Al Qaeda as the real threats and we could use some friends in fighting those guys. I also say yes because I think Bush's not going will not do a thing to bring about reform in China and it may actually slow it down.

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On May 9, 2008, The Center for Labor and Employment Law at New York University (NYU) will be putting on what looks to be an excellent seminar on China's new labor contract law. The seminar will take place in Pollack Colloquium, Ninth Floor, Furman Hall, NYU School of Law, 245 Sullivan Street. (h/t to the Workplace Prof Blog)

Professor Samuel Estreicher, NYU Law, and Michael J. Gray, from Jones Day's Chicago office will be the co-chairs.

Professor Benjamin Liebman from Columbia Law School will speak on "Doing Business in China: A Historical Perspective." He will be followed by the following panel discussing "The New China Labor and Employment Law: A Practical Perspective:"

Moderator: Terry Sharp, Home Depot

Panelists: Mark Nordstrom, GE
Martin Schmelkin, Goldman Sachs
Dale Skivington, Kodak
Henry Valdez, McDonald's Corporation

Next will be another panel discussion, this one, on "Dealing with Unions in China : the U.S. Model, the European Model, or a New Paradigm?" with the following panelists:

Moderator: Prof. Samuel Estreicher, NYU Law

Panelists: Earl Brown, Solidarity Center
Ed Potter, Coca-Cola
Dale Skivington, Kodak
Henry Valdez, McDonald's Corporation

China Law éminence grise Professor Jerome Cohen, of NYU Law, will be the luncheon speaker

The next session will be on "The Role of Counsel in Assisting Multinational Companies in China" and will consist of the following:

Moderator: Mark Dichter, Morgan Lewis Philadelphia

Panelists: Joseph Chan, Pillsbury Winthrop Shanghai
Darren Gardner, Seyfarth Shaw S.F.
Winston Zhao, Jones Day Shanghai

The seminar will conclude with a roundtable on "Recent Issues Affecting Multinational Companies Doing Business in China : Topics include the Beijing Olympics, the new ADR law (effective May 1) and the protection of confidential information." The panel for this session will be the following:

Moderator: Torrey Whitman, NYU Law

Panelists: Rob Landau, NBC Sports
Ed Potter, Coca-Cola

It does look like it will be a winner.

Go here to register and go here to tell me whether the bottom picture is really Elliott Spitzer. Is it really him?

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China Law Blog's own Steve Dickinson will be speaking on China Joint Ventures (JVs) at JP Morgan's upcoming China Conference. This yearly conference, which truly is THE China conference, will take place at the Grand Hyatt in Beijing (already sold out) from April 23 to April 25 and it will, as always, include a huge roster of the leading China experts in various fields. Click here for the draft agenda.

JP Morgan describes its conference as follows:

As China's largest investment forum, this pre-eminent conference attracts over 1,500 delegates from more than 30 countries and incorporates in excess of 2,000 one-on-one meetings that place the world's investment elite face-to-face with CEOs & CFOs of China's best companies. Also on offer are presentations from 200 speakers, including China’s brightest corporate minds, top-level government officials who are shaping China's future and China's most notable industry experts and think-tanks from JPMorgan's Hands-On China Series.

Our commitment to you:

- Presentations from more than 200 speakers, customized to meet your investment needs
- Exclusive roundtable discussions with the CEOs of China's leading companies, as part of the JPMorgan China CEO Forum
- Cutting-edge commentary from multinationals, think-tanks and independent industry experts from JPMorgan’s Hands-On China Series
- Informative discussions with top-level government officials
- Sector updates and outlook on key policies from JPMorgan analyst teams
- Exceptional site visits and plant tours

This past summer, Steve gave a JP Morgan "Hands-On China" lecture in Shanghai on China Joint Ventures, focusing on the lessons to be learned from the Danone Wahaha dispute. Steve then did a follow up article on the same topic for the China Economic Review, entitled, "Danone v. Wahaha." A gross summarization of Steve's view on China joint ventures (actually, not just China) is that Western companies are sometimes too quick to partake of them without fully understanding their potential repercussions. I wrote something similar for the Wall Street Journal in a piece entitled, "China's Joint Venture Jeopardy." Joint ventures do have a place in China business, but far too many unscrupulous business consultants push them simply to make a buck/Yuan when various other methods of getting into China would be both better and cheaper for the Western company.

Steve is scheduled to speak on Thursday, April 24, from 17:00 to 18:00 in the Grand Ballroom Number 1. The title of his talk is "Pitfalls of Establishing Joint Ventures in China."

I plan to attend most of the conference and I hope to see you all there.

China Venture News already posted on this conference, as did my friend Shaun Rein, who is chairing a can't miss panel on China private equity. For more on this panel and on the conference as a whole, check out Shaun's post, entitled, "Preview of JP Morgan’s China Conference."

I will continue adding to this post as more bloggers start talking up the event.

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CLB's own Steve Dickinson will be on CCTV's Dialogue show tonight at 7:30 pm talking about China's new individual income tax laws. We will run another post on this as soon as CCTV puts the show on its website.

Don't miss it!

UPDATE: It will be aired again on CCTV-9 on February 28 at 0:30, 7:30, and 13:00.

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On February 28 and 29, I, along with Paul Brogan, Director of Supply QA for Burger King Corporation, will be co-chairing a conference on “Managing the Risks of Manufacturing in China” in Las Vegas. The conference is aimed at quality assurance and product safety officers and legal counsel dealing with product liability and litigation. My presentation will focus on dealing the benefits of arbitration in dealing with China manufacturers, the things to look out for in drafting an arbitration clause with your Chinese manufacturer, and how to serve a Chinese manufacturer when all else fails.

The following topics will be discussed:

• Designing an agreement with Chinese suppliers that is enforceable in China

• Evaluating the full spectrum of risk and seeking suppliers accordingly

• Segregating and quantifying products to easily dissect the product line in the event of a defect or safety issue

• Implementing internal quality assurance controls that can withstand the scrutiny of media attention or litigation

• Ensuring Chinese suppliers are complying with their commitments

• Determining what type of insurance is available and what specific policy exclusions might apply

• Moving quickly and effectively to remove defective products from the market

• Dealing with the potentially negative publicity of a recall

• Pursuing litigation against a Chinese manufacturer in China

The following people are slated to speak:

Tom Bohan
Vice President, Legal
The Home Depot (Atlanta, GA)

Paul J. Brogan
Director – Supply QA, North America,
Product Safety and Regulatory, Burger King Corporation (Miami, FL)

Konrad Cailteux
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (New York, NY)

Audrey Chen
Jun He Law Offices (Beijing, China)

Jonathan M. Cohen
Gilbert Randolph LLP (Washington, DC)

Steven Cooper
Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C. (New York, NY)

Neil A. Goldberg
Goldberg Segalla LLP (Buffalo, NY)

Michael Lyle
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (Washington, DC)

Arvin Maskin
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (New York, NY)

Dr. Chairman Emeritus
Exponent, Inc. (Menlo Park, CA)

John J. McDonough
Cozen & O'Connor (New York, NY)

Richard W. O'Brien
Director
Office of International Programs and Intergovernmental Affairs
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (Washington, DC)

Richard Oetheimer
Goodwin Procter LLP (Boston, MA)

Lucas G. Paglia
Associate General Counsel
American Eagle Outfitters (Warrendale, PA)

Ricardo Pineda
Director of Manufacturing Engineering
Plantronics Inc (Santa Cruz, CA)

Mark B. Seiger
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge (Hartford, CT)

Andrew C. Spacone
Senior Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary
Textron Inc. (Providence, RI)

Bob Tellier
Divisional Vice President, Global Sourcing
True Value Company (Chicago, IL)

Alice Young
Kaye Scholer LLP (New York, NY)

For more information, or to sign up, go here.

See you there!

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Just this second got an email announcing what looks like a very interesting Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Teleconference on Chinese intellectual property, set for tomorrow. For more information and to register, go here.

It will consist of the following two live 90-Minute teleconferences with Interactive Q&A.

Part 1 – Essential Preemptive Steps to Protect IP Rights
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
1:00-2:30 pm Eastern

Part 2 – Strategies for Policing and Enforcing IP Rights
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
1:00-2:30 pm Eastern

It is described as follows:

The increased focus on doing business in China – and its rapidly evolving regulatory landscape for IP – impacts most U.S. companies. In 2006, counterfeit products seized in China accounted for over 80% of all seizures that year.

To protect IP, companies must have an IP strategy for China, whether or not they are currently doing business in China. Before entering the market, advanced planning is crucial because IP rights take time to obtain in China.

How can companies protect their intellectual property rights, whether they are planning to enter the Chinese market, otherwise do business in or with China, or if their products are vulnerable to counterfeiting or other infringement?

Listen and participate from your telephone as our authoritative panel of IP and China business law specialists examines protection of a company's IP rights before entering into business in China and while transacting business in China, including registration of IP, anti-counterfeiting and brand protection strategies, and enforcement practices.

The panel will address the following issues:

What issues must be addressed for registration of IP in China?

What steps can U.S. companies implement to protect their brands against infringement?

What strategies can IP owners employ to combat counterfeiting in China?

What are the best practices for IP enforcement and protection in China?

The faculty consists of the following:

Yitai Hu, of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, in Palo Alto.

Paul D. Jones, of Jones & Co. in Toronto.=

Keith Medansky, of DLA Piper, in Chicago.

Stan Abrams, of DLA Piper, in Beijing, and also of China Hearsay fame.

I can certainly vouch for Stan but I do not know any of the other speakers.

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It is, according to China Briefing, anyway.

What do you all think 'bout that?

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Strafford Publications is putting on what is looking to be an exceptional "Live 90-Minute Telephone Conference with Interactive Q&A" on China Real Estate Law." The teleconference will take place on Tuesday, January 8, 2008, from 1:00 pm until 2:30 pm Eastern Time and from 2:00 am until 3:30 am, China time.

It is entitled, "Real Estate Investment Under China's New Land Use Laws: Mitigating Complex Legal Risks, Seizing New Opportunities" and is described as follows:

As China’s population skyrockets past 1.3 billion and the demand for living and office space soars, U.S. investors anxiously seek real estate opportunities there. However, investment restrictions, land ownership rules and China’s unique culture make foreign investment complicated.

New Chinese Property Laws became effective in October 2007, providing some direction for investors. However, regulations limiting foreign access to investment in the Chinese real estate market create continuing uncertainty for U.S. investors.

Listen and participate from your telephone as our panel of real property attorneys explains the current cultural and regulatory environment for real estate investment in China, the legal risks of investing in Chinese real estate and best practices for mitigating those risks.

The following China attorneys will be on the panel:

CLB's own Steven Dickinson.

Anna Han, with White & Case's Palo Alto office and a law professor at Santa Clara University.

Amy L. Sommers, with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey's Shanghai office and co-chair of the ABA's China Law Committee, and also formerly of Seattle.

The panel will, among other things, be addressing the following questions:

How have the 2007 Chinese Property Laws altered the Chinese government's treatment of land ownership?

What restrictions did the 2006 regulations place on foreign investments in China's real estate market?

What are some best practices for mitigating the legal risks of investing in Chinese real estate?
Following the speaker presentations, you’ll have an opportunity to get answers to your specific questions during the interactive Q&A.

Don't miss it.

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I am scheduled to speak on Monday in Washington DC regarding what companies outsourcing their product manufacturing must do to protect themselves from bad/dangerous China product. The conference is being put on by Lexis/Nexis and based on the people speaking (present company excluded, of course), I am confident it will be a great conference. The website lists the following benefits, among others, from attending:

• Learn how to write arbitration clauses that stand up in China and other foreign countries
• Get the inside story on the current products recalled—who is being sued and who is at risk
• Receive a briefing on how to properly handle a product recall from the media to suppliers
• Examine recent foreign arbitration awards and how to get them enforced
• Find out how lead exposure affects children from a leading toxicologist
• Listen in on a roundtable by counsel doing business in foreign jurisdictions
• Discover how arbitration works in the International Centre for Dispute Resolution in Hong Kong
• Hear from insurance coverage attorneys on issues like business interruption
• Discuss the current regulatory situation and the status of reform efforts

Paul Hinton, NERA Economic Consulting and Bradley Remick, Marshall, Dennehey, Warner Coleman & Goggin will be the chairs.

Lucy Allen, NERA Economic Consulting, and Hillel Parness from Lovells LLP, will start it off discussing the current status of China product issues.

Joseph Guglielmo, Whatley Drake & Kallas, and Katherine Cahill, Marsh USA, Inc., will discuss what to do when a China product is recalled.

Jeannie Perron, Covington & Burling LLP, Francis Citera, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Kenneth Wexler, Wexler Toriseva Wallace LLP, and Mitchell Breit, Whatley Drake & Kallas LLC, will give a litigation update regarding recently recalled China products.

Jack Snyder, Toxicologist, and Michael Filla, Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, will talk about "Lead Exposure in Children and Medical Monitoring."

Brenda Jacobs, Sidley Austin LLP, will speak on the regulatory efforts relating to unsafe products from China.

Thomas Klitgaard, Dillingham & Murphy, LLP, will be speaking on China litigation and arbitration and I will be speaking on setting up your manufacturing in China so as to avoid litigation or arbitration.

Thomas Klitgaard, Dillingham & Murphy, LLP, Baiju Vasani, Crowell & Moring LLP,and Phoebe Wilkinson, Chadbourne & Park LLP, will be speaking on arbitration and other contractual issues relating to China product.

Shelley Leinicke, Wicker, Smith, O’Hara, McCoy & Ford, and Bradley Remick, Marshall, will be speaking on "How to Get the Foreign Supplier Involved in Defending Against Claims of Product Defects."

Marialuisa Gallozzi, Covington & Burling LLP, Joseph Bermudez, Cozen O'Conner, and Brad Murlick, Navigant Consulting, will speak on "Business Interruption and Insurance Coverage" as they relate to China products.

For more on this conference, go here.

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I will be one of the speakers at the 2007 E&S Loss Control Executive Forum in Orlando, Florida tomorrow. For more on the event, go here. The forum is limited to higher level risk executives only and I will be speaking on how to minimize risk when doing business with China. My focus will be on protecting IP and on preventing bad quality product.

Any readers in Orlando should feel free to contact me as it is looking like I will be free for dinner. Oh yeah, also got called by CNBC regarding my speaking on the same topic live on air tomorrow. I have my suit and tie with me this time so I said yes. Rumor is I will be on there with some lawyer out of Philly who views China manufacturers as evil.

We will see.

Updates to follow.

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CLB's own Steve Dickinson will be a panelist on the very soon upcoming CNbloggercon in Beijing this weekend at the Tsinghua Technology Park Conference Center. Steve will be talking about the legal issues of blogging within China.

Steve's panel (and Steve himself) will be speaking Chinese and most information on the conference is in Chinese. This is a huge annual event (biggest such event in China, I believe) and this is the third one, first in Beijing. For more on what other bloggers are saying on the event, click here, here, here, and/or here.

Due to the potentially sensitive nature of the subjects on which Steve and his fellow panelists will be talking (hint, it starts with the letter c), it was nip and tuck right up to the last minute as to whether that panel would go on at all. Hence, our extremely late notice.

I am hoping someone will be live blogging in English on this event or at least reporting back on it fairly regularly. If someone finds such postings, please let us know.

UPDATE: Steve just emailed me from his Blackberry: "Last session tomorrow. Legal is sensitive so not really advertised." Tomorrow means Sunday, November 4, China time. Don't anyone dare miss it.

SECOND UPDATE: Steve's session will be at 5:20 pm.

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office will be putting on another one of its usually fine roadshows. This one will be at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown San Jose, California on November 7 and 8. Click here to register. These tend to be very informative events and, amazingly enough, they are free. I attended the one in Seattle and I was even able to get continuing legal education (CLE) credits for doing so.

The following people are scheduled to speak on the following topics:

-- Susan Anthony, Office of Intellectual Property Policy and Enforcement. "Are You China IP Savvy?"

-- Eric Smith, International Intellectual Property Alliance and Greenberg Traurig, "Piracy in China: An Overview from the Copyright Industries"

-- Joshua Kaufman, Art Copyright Coalition and Venable LLP, "Stopping Chinese Counterfeits: A Practical Hands-on Approach for All Business"

-- Stan McCoy, Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), "Trade-Related Aspects of China IP"

-- Tom Sydnor, The Progress and Freedom Foundation, "File-sharing Programs"

-- Joanne Vliet, US Export Assistance Center (USEAC), "Export Resources for U.S. Businesses"

-- Tom Moga, Butzel Long, "Design Patent vs. Copyright Protection in China"

-- William "Skip" Fisher, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, "What U.S Companies Should Know About Tech Transfer in China." Also, "A Practical Paradigm for IP Risk Management in China." Skip is based here in Seattle and his speech on China technology transfer is excellent.

-- Debra Eggeman, Independent Distributors of Electronics Association
-- Diane Nichols, Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation
-- Tom Valliere, Design Chain Associates
On a panel discussing "Anti-Counterfeiting Initiatives in the Electronics Industry"

-- Scott Baldwin, Office of Intellectual Property and Enforcement (USPTO), “USPTO Resources for China IP”

-- James Chesser, Chesser & Associates, "Hitting the Right Note in China: A Performer’s Experience"

-- Neil Smith, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, "Counterfeiting Enforcement Strategies in the U.S."

-- Dwayne Rawlings, Intellectual Property Rights Branch, Department of Homeland Security, "U.S. Customs."

-- Mr. Dave FAULCONER,U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), "U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement"

-- Yang Guohua, Ombudsman, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, "What U.S. Businesses are Doing Right (and Wrong)"

-- Ellen Szymanski, International Trade Specialist, Office of China Economic Area, U.S. Department of Commerce, "An Interactive Case Study: Protecting and Enforcing Rollershoe’s Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)"

These roadshows are particularly good for businesses just starting out in China or contemplating doing so.

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If it is October, it must be time again for Ambassador Clark T. Randt Jr's Roundtable Discussion on Intellectual Property Rights in China. This year's event will take place at the Grand Hyatt Beijing, starting on the evening of October 23 and running through October 24. Go here to register and for more information. Hat tip to Asia Business Intelligence Blog for coming up with this one. What email list is he on that he is always beating me to the punch on government events on China IP?

The draft agenda reveals that Stephan Lang of the U.S Consulate in Guangzhou will be the Master of Cermonies, U.S. Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr., will be giving the opening remarks, and Jon Dudas Jon Dudas, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, will be giving the Keynote.

The first panel will be a "China-Based Industry Overview and Directions Embassy Should Take on IPR (Part I)." It will be moderated by Barry Friedman, from the U.S. Commercial Service and will have on the panel the following people on the panel:

Jeremie Waterman, from AmCham
Jack Chang, from the Quality Brands Protection Committee
Jeffrey Schultz, from the R&D-based Pharmaceutical Association in China

There will then be another panel on the same issues, moderated by Chris Adams from USTR and with the following people:

Greg Shea (whom I know and can vouch for as both knowing his stuff and knowing how to convey it in a very interesting way) from the U.S. Information Technology Office.
Eric Smith, from the Copyright Industry Overview (IIPA)

The third panel is entitled "Trends in Intellectual Property Enforcement And Suggestions For USG Support or Involvement." Chris Israel, International IP Enforcement Coordinator will be moderating and the topics to be covered will include,

· Fake and Shoddy/Counterfeit Goods and IPR

· Internet and its Threat to U.S. Rights Holders

· Civil Enforcement and Pharmaceutical Industry Challenges

· Counterfeit Agricultural Products (Crop Life)

This panel will include Elizabeth Lam and George Fuller

Conrad Wong from the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou will be the Master of Ceremonies for the afternoon session.

The next panel will be on "Illustrative Cases - Ways to Protect and Enforce IP in China" and will be modereated by Lisa Rigoli, of the Trade Facilitation Office. The topics for this panel will likely include the following:

· Combating International IPR Crime: Experience of Nike – Bill Wei

· Trade Fair Infringements (TBD)

· Fake Markets and Landlord Liability (TBD)

· Company Name Infringements (TBD)

The fourth panel will be on "IPR Directions for the Future - Legislation and National IP Strategies and U.S. Government Support" and will start out with a speech by John Sullivan, General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce, on “Commercial Rule of Law Reform and Intellectual Property Advancement in China.” Mark Cohen (who I have heard speak and who is really good) will moderate with the following panelists on the following issues:

· Patent Law Reform (QBPC, IPO) (Sam Li, Rohm and Haas)

· Trademark Law Reform (INTA or QBPC)

· Copyright Law Reform (Yun Xuan, GE Universal)

· Criminal Law Reform (Joe Simone/IACC)

· Trade Secret Law/ Unfair Competition Law (TBC)

· Reform of China’s Civil Process (TBC)

The fifth panel will be on "China’s Industrial and Intellectual Property Policy: How this Affects U.S. Companies and How Should the Embassy Respond?" It will be moderated by Eric Madison of the Economics Section and have the following panelists and issues:

· Antitrust and Standards: Nate Bush, O’Melveney & Meyers

· Tech Transfer Policy: Dr. Thomas Pattloch, European Commission

· Market Access and IPR Protection: TBC

The last panel entitled, "The View from Washington: IP Policy and the Role of Rights Holders" will be moderated by Bob Poole of the USCBC and will have the following panelists and topics:

· WTO/JCCT and Other Trade-Related Activities: USTR - Stan McCoy

· Federal Bureau of Investigation: Dep. Asst Director Sean Henry

· Customs Cooperation: Customs and Border Protection (TBC)

· USPTO Engagement: USPTO (Lois Boland or Elaine Wu, TBC)

The conference will conclude with a Q&A and then Mark Cohen will give a summary and conclusions and set forth the "U.S. Embassy’s View of the Year Ahead and Next Steps."

Enough great people and topics to last a week, so one day ought to be quite a ride. I will be in Hong Kong for depositions from October 17 through the 21st so I may just drop over to Beijing for a look.

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On September 19, at the Renaissance Hotel in Beijing, beginning at 1:30 pm, there will be two panels of "experts" speaking on various aspects of China's digital world. I put the word experts in quotes only because I will be on one of the panels and my knowledge of the digital world barely extends beyond the phone number of my firm's IT guy. But I know nearly all of the other panelists and can strongly vouch for them, both in terms of their knowledge and in their ability to impart information to an audience. On top of this, at least one of the panelists has made a rather unique and legally binding quality guarantee.

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) is putting on this event and you can get complete information on it here.

For more on what should be a great event, check out the following:

1. Silicon Hutong

2. ImageThief

Most importantly (and I will note that this is the only blog to report this late breaking news), free t-shirts will be given to all who attend.

I hope to see you there.

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AmCham Beijing is putting on what looks to be a wildly helpful seminar entitled, "Best Practices in Running a Low-cost IPR Protection Program." It will be from 7:30-10 a.m. at the Beijing American Club located at the China Resources Building, 8 Jianguomen Beidajie in Beijing.

AmCham describes this event as follows:

Protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) is not just a job for companies that patented inventions or make DVDs - any company with a brand name is vulnerable to Chinese competitors who can take advantage of your company's IPR by selling knock-off goods or by providing services under your company's name. Even if you think your brand is safe, how do you ensure that your suppliers or distributors are not substituting fake products for your legitimates?

Operators of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) know that, due to smaller budgets, SMEs are hard pressed to withstand the crippling effects on profit margins that unchecked IPR abuse can have.

However, neither do they have the budget or personnel to employ teams of lawyers and investigators to curtail these IPR abuses. So what to do?

Whether you are currently an SME operator or you have ever considered starting your own company, this AmCham event will provide answers to many of your questions about low-cost strategies to safeguard your intellectual property.

Our all-star panel of IP experts, including Mark Cohen, the Senior IPR Attache at the US Embassy, Jack Chang, the Chairman of the Quality Brands Protection Committee, and Eugene Yu, the Chief China Representative for the Motion Picture Association, will share their tips and best practices on how to employ both clever preventative strategies as well as how to enforce your IP rights on a tight budget.

Registration will be from 7:30-8 a.m., with breakfast, presentations and Q&A from 8-10 a.m.

I like the conference's emphasis on IP protection for SMEs because, in so many ways, budget constraints force SMEs to achieve that protection differently from large companies. Where the large company typically can do whatever it takes to protect its IP, the small company must wisely pick and choose from a long list of options. Though it is impossible to achieve complete protection, I have seen companies achieve excellent protection for very little money and I have seen companies spend more and completely miss the boat. I would expect this conference would help SMEs lean more to the former.

Cost is 100RMB for members, 250RMB for nonmembers. Click here for online enrollment.

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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is putting on another in its series of free seminars on China intellectual property. The seminar is entitled, "Conference on Protecting Your Intellectual Property in China and the Global Marketplace" and it will take place on September 19 and 20, from 8:00am until 5:30pm, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, 2345 McGee Street, in Kansas City, Missouri.

The USPTO website describes the seminar as follows:

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Companies of any size, from those contemplating entering the China market to those with an established presence in China, and including those who simply want to know more about better protecting themselves against IP theft from abroad.

TOPICS: China’s laws and regulations that may affect how a business protects and enforces its intellectual property, how best to protect business assets to avoid intellectual property problems in the first place, how to recognize when an intellectual property asset has been infringed, what to do if infringement occurs, and what the U.S. government is doing to improve the intellectual property protection and enforcement environment
in China.

Just in case, I repeat: these are excellent seminars and they are free.

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The Wall Street Journal Asia and mega law firm, O'Melveny & Myers (with a very strong China presence), are putting on what is looking to be a top level conference on China's financial markets. The conference is set for November 13th in Hong Kong (China's de facto financial capital) at the Hong Kong Grand Hyatt (a great hotel with amazing views!). For registration, click here. The cost is $1000, but there is a 20% discount for Wall Street Journal subscribers and since one can get such a subscription for less than $200, it would certainly make sense to do so. There are also various other discounts, including a 10% early bird discount, but it is not clear whether they are cumulative.

The topics will include the following:

Commercial Banking in China
China and World Capital Markets
China Domestic Capital Markets
Cross-border M&A
China’s RMB & Foreign Currency Issues

Click here [pdf] for the agenda.

The following are scheduled to speak:

Howard Chao, O'Melveny & Myers LLP
AB Culvahouse, O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Lawrence Fok, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
Stephen Green, Standard Chartered Bank
Fred Hu, Goldman Sachs
Nicholas Lardy, The Peterson Institute for International Economics
Stephen G. Pagliuca, Bain Capital
Qi Bin, CSRC
David Rubenstein, The Carlyle Group
Henny Sender, The Wall Street Journal
Jing Ulrich, JPMorgan Securities
Dr. Jonathan Woetzel, McKinsey & Company
Dr. Xu Gang, CITIC Securities
Xu Guang Xun, China NASDAQ International

The depth and breadth of the speakers makes me confident this will be an excellent conference.

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CLB's own Steve Dickinson will be on Bloomberg TV out of Shanghai on Thursday, August 9, beginning at 9:40 a.m., Shanghai time. Steve will be discussing Chinese product safety and quality and what foreign companies need to do to ensure the goods they get from China meet applicable and necessary standards back home.

Assuming Steve's interview is shown live, this means it will be on at 6:40 p.m. PST and 9:40 p.m. EST in the United States, and at 2:40 a.m. in London. Bloomberg's website seems to indicate Steve will be on the show "Money and Politics," which, considering the topic, makes sense.

Don't miss it.

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I will be appearing on CNBC's Morning Call show on Monday at 8:15 am Pacific Time, 11:15 am Eastern Time. The topic will be whether American companies are responsible for bad product they are getting from China. Regular readers of this blog know my answer will is an emphatic YES.

Morning Call describes itself as follows:

"Morning Call," anchored by Liz Claman from CNBC's global headquarters, offers a clear focus on real-time market coverage at the heart of the trading day. "Morning Call" captures the frenzied moments following the start of the trading day and all of the intense market activity associated with Wall Street's opening moments. It's two full hours of up-to-the minute market news and analysis and debate on the markets, the economy and other business issues that effect your pocketbook.

Don't miss it.

UPDATE: I've been bumped. Something about needing more time to devote to private equity. They tell me I will be rescheduled. Kind of a shame because I am here in Portland, Oregon, chaperoning my daughter's basketball team at the End of the Trail tournament and since all I came with were t-shirts and jeans, I had to run out and buy a suit, shirt and tie to look presentable for the show. It was either that or leave early and return to Seattle. Oh well, Guess I needed an updated look anyway. Oh well.

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On July 3rd, 9:00 pm Eastern Time, PBS will be running a documentary on the Chinese legal system, entitled, "The People's Court: China's Legal  Revolution." And is it just me, or is the guy on the far right of the site a near dead ringer for Lloyd, from the HBO series, Entourage?

PBS e-mailed me regarding the show, describing it as follows:

FROM NEIGHBORHOOD DISPUTES TO LIFE-AND-DEATH CASES, WIDE ANGLE FOLLOWS JUDGES, LAWYERS AND ordinary citizens SEEKING JUSTICE AS CHINA BUILDS A LEGAL FRAMEWORK FROM SCRATCH FOR ITS NEW MARKET ECONOMY, IN THE PEOPLE'S COURT

WIDE ANGLE Launches Its Sixth Season Tuesday, July 3 at 9 p.m. On PBS.

When a state judge brings her mobile court to a hillside village to resolve its first lawsuit, the entire community shows up for the public spectacle.  When a crusading lawyer risks government retribution to defend farmers rioting against a massive dam project, a teenager is tried and executed in secret.

It may be the court of "the people," but it's a long, long way from Judge Wapner's California courtroom.

As WIDE ANGLE returns for its sixth season of in-depth documentaries about issues that are shaping the world today, The People's Court takes viewers inside the courtrooms and law schools of China to provide an unprecedented and unexpected portrait of its rapidly
growing legal system.  The People's Court premieres Tuesday, July 3 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).

Poised to surpass the United States as the largest economy in the world, yet facing mounting domestic and international pressure for fair and transparent framework of laws, China is racing to reshape the rules of society.  With Chinese from all walks of life taking to the streets in record numbers (official figures count an average of 200 incidents of unrest a day) to protest land seizures, corruption, pollution, or unpaid wages, China is under duress to provide a release valve for mounting social discontents.  "Rule of law," originally a Western concept, was recently adopted in China's Constitution for the
first time ever, and legal reform is high on the state agenda, despite the Communist Party's continuing monopoly on power. Above all, a market economy requires a reliable framework of property rights, without which international investors cannot do business with China. 

In the past quarter century, the country has opened nearly 400 law schools, trained hundreds of thousands of judges and lawyers, and launched education campaigns to encourage people to bring their grievances to court rather than taking to the streets.  Few nations have ever attempted to create a new legal system so quickly.  Yet the transformation is incomplete and the judiciary far from independent. Senior judges are appointed by, take orders from, and receive their paychecks from the Communist Party.  Hundreds of Chinese lawyers have been jailed in recent years for challenging state
leadership or taking on overly sensitive cases.  More than 99 percent of criminal cases end in convictions.  And China executes more prisoners every year than the rest of the world combined.  The People's Court reports the shocking story of the recent secret trial and execution of one of the 100,000 peasants who protested the loss of their land to a
huge hydroelectric dam project on the Dadu River. 

WIDE ANGLE was given exclusive access to film in Chinese courts -- a first for a Western documentary.  Profiling itinerant judges, law students, a human rights lawyer, and ordinary citizens, The People's Court examines China in flux, revealing the lengths to which Chinese people must go to obtain justice and raising crucial questions about
their present system of law:  Is it possible to get a fair trial in China today?  Will the "rule of law" transform Chinese society into one that protects the legal rights of all citizens?

After the film, WIDE ANGLE anchor Daljit Dhaliwal will conduct an interview with a foreign policy expert to examine the global implications of China's legal reforms and connect the dots for American viewers.

Though it certainly sounds interesting and I most certainly will be watching it, I am a bit skeptical it will be able to tell us much in its one or two hour slot.   I will report back. 

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By Charles Moure

I attended AmCham Shanghai's June 8, 2007, China Trends Conference at the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel.  I was quite impressed by both AmCham and the conference itself.  The large conference room was nearly full.  Brenda Foster, President of AmCham Shanghai, gave the opening remarks and she noted AmCham Shanghai is one of the fastest growing AmChams in Asia. 

Steven Ganster of Technomic Asia gave the first speech.  My firm has worked on a number of matters with Technomic Asia (mostly with Kent Kedl, who is based in Shanghai) and we hold them in very high regard.  Steven gave an excellent speech on how when Chinese and Western companies compete for the same customers, Western companies usually lose.  Chinese companies simply have too many advantages in their relationships, their labor costs arising from their willingness to take a harder line with labor, and their ability to pay lower taxes.  Western companies typically have the advantage in access to finance and in more sophisticated management techniques. 

John Leary, Managing Partner of