During the summer of 2020, the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) handed down its final ruling. Before former US President Donald Trump blocked appointments to the Appellate Body—which effectively disbanded it—the Appellate Body served as the final round of arbitrators that would give the ultimate verdict on international trade disputes between countries.
today I am turning that alarm to an eleven out of ten because of the kerfuffle surrounding Nancy Pelosi's expected visit to Taiwan. I do not know for certain whether Speaker Pelosi will go to Taiwan or not, but I am thinking that she will. Most importantly, I have no clue what China's reaction to her visit will be. But I am certain that this trip will substantially worsen relations between China and the West and that those relations will either stay at that lower level or, more likely, continue to get worse.
To avoid issues, brands registering their trademarks in China should consider whether their marks may in any way be considered deceptive.
When a dispute involves a foreign party, a host of special considerations come into play – one of which is, where will this be litigated?
Expect U.S. customs to get even tougher on imports in the next year.
Who Should Sign Your China OEM Agreement? Not Some Hong Kong Company if You Can Help It
If you are a China employer, you must have a written employment contract with all your employees. Once you hire an employee in China it is generally difficult to terminate that employee during his or her contract term. It is also difficult to terminate your employees correctly in China, and there is usually a big price to pay for doing it wrong.
Back in the day, China strictly adhered to the first-to-file principle when it came to trademarks, meaning that whoever won the race to the registrar got the trademark, without regard to prior use of same. In the intervening years, however, China has moved in a more equitable direction, particularly in instances where the first filer is acting in bad faith.
We have put the kibosh on many China-related deals, and that is what this post is about, especially in this environment with financially distressed companies popping up all around thanks to the trade war and Covid. For ease of explanation and to camouflage the identities of those involved, I have amalgamated a bunch of them into one. This scenario is incredibly typical, including the retirement of the owner precipitating the need for the deal.
Vietnam's amended IP law will take effect on New Year's Day 2023. Similar amendments to China's Trademark Law would be greatly welcomed.
