Intellectual Property in China: What you don't know can cripple your business.

If your company has patents, trademarks, customers, vendors, consultants or manufacturing/research facilities in China, your intellectual property may be at risk. To protect our clients, Lerner David has opened an office in China and assembled a network of trusted Chinese attorneys. Together, we can help your business:

Bridge the Legal/Cultural Gap Between the U.S. & China

  • Use our network of Chinese lawyers to ensure you have the right firm, in the right province, for the right job.
  • Explore our knowledge of the differences between U.S. and Chinese law and customs to protect against unintended affronts or errors.

Secure Patents

  • Use utility model protection for your invention in China to obtain speedy protection, or obtain traditional patents.
  • Get accelerated examination for your patent applications, utility models or design applications.

Protect Trademarks

  • Register your trademark rights in China directly or using the Madrid Protocol treaty.
  • Develop tactics for direct filing in China to anticipate the expansive view of likelihood of confusion taken by the Chinese Trademark Office before filing in China.

Enforce Contracts

  • Ensure that your contracts conform to the complex Chinese rules that must be followed to have enforceable contracts.
  • Include arbitration clauses that can be enforced in China, which does not have a bilateral treaty with the U.S. to enforce civil judgments, but which does honor arbitration awards.

Safeguard Confidential Information

  • Use procedures that meet Chinese evidentiary standards to document disclosure of confidential information to Chinese Companies.
  • Ensure that disclosure of confidential information is covered by contracts enforceable in China.

Protect Trade Secrets

  • Conform your trade secret guidelines to the strict requirements of Chinese trade secret law.
  • Consider bringing a criminal action—with a well-selected Chinese lawyer—to protect trade secrets that permit seizure of evidence by Chinese security forces.

For more information, contact Bruce Sales, Managing Partner China at  bsales@ldlkm.com +1.908.518.6311.