arbitration clauses

Hong Kong Arbitration: Lawyers and Companies Are Just Saying No

In August, 2019 — in Hong Kong for International Business: Stick a Fork in It, I wrote how Hong Kong’s days as Asia’s leading international business hub were over and I made the following predictions: Companies that were deciding between Hong Kong or Singapore for their Asian headquarters would choose somewhere other than Hong Kong. Growing companies

Hague Service China

Email Service of Process on Chinese Defendants

Pursuing an individual or business in China is notoriously difficult for several reasons. One of them is that at the outset of any lawsuit, a complaint needs to be filed and served – meaning, it must be demonstrated to the Court that the complaint was provided to the named defendant(s) in a satisfactory manner. The

China demand letter from lawyer

Demand Letters to Chinese Companies

Demand Letters to Chinese Companies Demand letters have become so common in the United States they seldom have the desired effect. Consequently, many lawyers have stopped sending them, believing you should always sue first and discuss settlement later. For firms that still use them, demand letters are generally sent to attempt to resolve payment or

International Cease and Desist Letter

Cease and Desist Letters to Protect Your IP: Just the Facts and Law

My law firm often gets calls from companies alleging “a company is selling their product under their trade name on Amazon” and asking us to send a cease and desist letter “right away” to get that company to stop violating their IP. Our typical response is to say it is seldom a good idea to

China contract jurisdiction

Choosing the Jurisdiction for Your China Contract Disputes

I love when blog posts come pre-written. In cleaning out old emails today I found one from one of my law firm’s international dispute resolution lawyers to a Canadian client’s in-house lawyer who had proposed writing a contract that would give the client the choice of suing its Chinese counter-party in either Canada or China.

Global Trademark Protection Under the Madrid Protocol

Does U.S. Trademark Law Apply Worldwide?

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a trademark infringement case arising under the Lanham Act that has huge implications for manufacturers and sellers of products based outside the U.S. The case is Hetronic International, Inc. v. Hetronic Germany GMBH, et al. The case arises from a $114 million judgment for an industrial

International Manufacturing Lawyers

How to Avoid Getting Scammed When Buying Product Overseas (Including from Alibaba)

It is a helluva lot easier and cheaper to avoid losing money than to recover money that has already been lost. Whether you use Alibaba or not, there are certain "rules" you should follow when sourcing products from China and those rules include (1) conducting due diligence on your potential supplier, (2) protecting your IP, and (3) having a good contract with your supplier. And yes, all of this applies no matter what the color star your supplier has on Alibaba.