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IP Protection when buying from China (Feat. Dan Harris, China Law Blog) [Podcast]

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Renaud welcomes Dan Harris, Partner of the Seattle-headquartered and globally officed Harris Sliwoski LLP and long-time writer of the China Law Blog, to the podcast! Over the years he has shared so much valuable information for importers who buy from and manufacture in China; a key topic being keeping IP safe when purchasing from Chinese suppliers.

So in this episode, we delve into Dan’s decades of assisting Western companies navigate doing business with Chinese suppliers and get his tips on common IP risks and steps you can take to protect your business.

 

Listen to the episode here 👇

Listen: to the podcast episode

Watch: on Youtube

 

Episode sections

  • 00:00 – Greetings and introduction
  • 03:27 – What are the major risks to IP concerning working with Chinese companies that Western businesses should look out for?
  • 07:58 – Western companies consistently underestimate the risks of their technology and IP being used against them.
  • 13:39 – Has the Chinese legal system evolved for the better (or worse) regarding IP protection?
  • 20:11 – Protection 1: The right partner.
  • 28:11 – Protection 2: The right contract.
  • 30:21 – Protection 3. The right protections.
  • 38:26 – Wrapping up.

 

Related content…

Great reads from China Law Blog:

You should also check out these resources from Sofeast:

 

Listen, rate, & subscribe to the ‘China Manufacturing Decoded’ podcast on your favorite provider

More episodes are coming, so remember to rate us and subscribe! You can find us on:

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Manufacturing Contract: Fear And Its Impact On Payment Terms

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Manufacturing Contract Fear And Its Impact On Payment Terms

In this post, I’ll discuss the major risks each party is afraid of and their impact on payment terms in the context of the customer/supplier relationship, as well as where a manufacturing contract fits into the picture.

Continue reading “Manufacturing Contract: Fear And Its Impact On Payment Terms”

Correctly Using A Non Disclosure Non Use Non Circumvention Agreement [Podcast]

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Correctly Using Use A Non Disclosure Non Use Non Circumvention Agreement [Podcast]

The main topic is the non-disclosure non-use non-circumvention agreement. These agreements are important legal tools for importers to use if they’re serious about protecting their business interests and product IP. But there are right and wrong ways to use them, so Renaud explains some of the common mistakes made by importers when using NNN agreements for you to avoid.

However, we start this episode by looking at the current Covid situation in China. Despite strict zero-covid policies, there are outbreaks along the East coast in many major manufacturing areas and it’s starting to look difficult, especially with the Winter Olympics and Chinese New Year coming up soon. How are supply chains being affected?

 

Listen here!

Listen: What Makes An Appropriate NNN Agreement?

Watch on Youtube

 

Episode sections

  • 00:00 – Greetings & introduction
  • 01:10 – Exploring the worsening Covid situation across China & its effect on supply chains there. 
  • 11:45 – What is a non-disclosure non-use non-circumvention agreement?
  • 18:40 – What do importers often get wrong when drafting and using NNN agreements?
  • 34:46 – Wrapping up. 

 

Related content…

Disclaimer

Here at Sofeast, we are not lawyers. What we discussed above is based only on our understanding of the legal requirements. We do not present this information as a basis for you to make decisions, and we do not accept any liability if you do so. Consider consulting a lawyer before making legal decisions.

 

Listen, rate, & subscribe to the ‘China Manufacturing Decoded’ podcast on your favorite provider

There are more episodes to come, so remember to rate us and subscribe! You can find us on:

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to give us a 5* rating and share it with your network if you enjoy listening!

Can Getting To Market First Stop Copycats? [Podcast]

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Can Getting To Market First Stop Copycats_ [Podcast]A recent China Law Blog article outlined why getting to market first with your new product isn’t great protection against copycats these days, especially if corners have been cut in the name of speed.

Some entrepreneurs believe that skipping IP protection and launching quickly will mean copycats can’t copy them quickly enough before they’ve built their brand and made plenty of sales and if there are IP infringement issues they can handle them later.

Sofeast’s CEO Renaud Anjoran will explain why this isn’t the case in this episode. You’ll learn who is waiting to copy your idea, the benefits and drawbacks of getting lots of press for your new product, steps you should take to protect IP, and more…

 

Listen here!

Listen: The First To Market Fallacy For Made-In-China Products

Watch: Watch on YouTube

 

Episode sections

  • 00:00 – Introduction. 
  • 00:31 – Current China/Hong Kong Covid-19 situation, quarantine, and visas. 
  • 05:41 – What is the ‘First To Market Argument?’
  • 11:20 – Is being first to market always beneficial? 
  • 12:21 – The importance of strong IP protection.
  • 13:40 – Does it make sense for low profile products to get to market quickly and deal with IP protection later? (This concept was discussed in episode 71 by Renaud and Andy Bartlett).
  • 18:55 – What should higher profile product launches do? 
  • 21:07 – The 2 main IP infringement risks you face:
  1. Your own manufacturer will copy your product and place it on the market first before you. 
  2. Copycat companies will notice your product’s signs of success and market traction and copy you. 
  • 28:06 – Why creating a lot of buzz about your new product before it goes to market can be dangerous.
  • 35:48 – How to combat being copied?
  • 38:41 – Wrapping up. 

 

Related content…

 

Listen, rate, & subscribe to the ‘China Manufacturing Decoded’ podcast on your favorite provider

There are more episodes to come, so remember to rate us and subscribe! You can find us on:

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to give us a 5* rating and share it with your network if you enjoy listening!

IP Infringement In China. What To Do If You’re A Victim?

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IP Infringement In China. What To Do If You're Affected?

Here’s an interesting, yet unfortunate scenario about IP infringement in China. You have designed a new product and have found a Chinese manufacturing partner (supplier) to help develop and manufacture it under a manufacturing agreement. Nothing uncommon here. But how about when you find out that this supplier has secretly filed a patent in China for your product?

Continue reading “IP Infringement In China. What To Do If You’re A Victim?”

Will A China NNN Agreement Protect Us If We Start Assembling Products There?

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Will A China NNN Agreement Protect Us If We Start Assembling Products There?Security of your IP is a great concern these days, especially if you’re manufacturing an innovative product that is selling well. For this reason, some businesses choose to ship their China-made components to the West and do assembly there. But could a China NNN agreement protect your precious product to the point where you can work with a Chinese assembler and make your products ‘at source’ which could provide certain benefits?

In this post, we’ll explore how an NNN (non-disclosure, non-use, non-circumvention) agreement could protect you in the case of assembling an innovative patent-pending product in China.

Continue reading “Will A China NNN Agreement Protect Us If We Start Assembling Products There?”

Chinese Copycats: A Real Problem For Entrepreneurs?

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Chinese Copycats: A Real Problem For Entrepreneurs?

IP protection is always a concern for businesses and entrepreneurs, especially when manufacturing an innovative new product. Chinese copycats, or fast followers, are a threat to your new product and business as these vendors may mobilize quickly to copy and produce it, and bury your online presence with a deluge of ads, pages, videos, etc.

Let’s explore how these Chinese copycats operate with a real example so you can be aware of the risk. We’ll also look at some ways to protect your IP, too…

Continue reading “Chinese Copycats: A Real Problem For Entrepreneurs?”

Keeping Sensitive Information Confidential – Disputes With Chinese Suppliers: Q&A (Volume 4)

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Disputes with Chinese suppliers Volume 4

Q: I’m worried that my sensitive product information won’t be kept confidential when it is sent to component suppliers. How can it be kept secure?

Answer:

There are legal and non-legal approaches here.

Non-Legal: Reducing the amount of information being shared 

1. The most important action is to avoid giving too much information to one given supplier. If they see what the end product is, and if they think there is plenty of margin to grab, they might add 50% (or more!) to their price. Or they might give a low price, in the hope of being selected and with the purpose of competing with you later, and that’s probably even worse. 

2. The second most important action you can take is avoiding sending sensitive information to multiple suppliers or simplifying the tender to remove the most confidential parts.
Note: When working with Sofeast on sourcing, in some cases we know a supplier that is already qualified and is probably a good fit. In many other cases, we involve other suppliers but do some screening first. It is usually possible to ask them to provide information based on a similar component, or at least a part that requires similar processing when doing that screening.

If we do a good job of restricting both the information sent and the number of suppliers we need to send it to, the risk is already lower. As Steve Dickinson wrote last week in China Law Blog, there are many ways information can leak, and you want to minimize that.

 

Legal: Getting the supplier to sign an NDA or NNN agreement

The next step is figuring out whether each component supplier needs to sign a non-disclosure, non-use, and non-circumvention (NNN) agreement.

Read more about manufacturing contracts here 👉 How To Create A Valid Manufacturing Contract In China To Protect Your IP

We usually discuss this with our client, to make sure we are aligned. There are several cases:

  • We already have an NNN agreement with that supplier: we are all set.
  • We only communicate a very small part of the project information, and in itself that poses no IP dissemination risk: no need for an NNN agreement.
  • We communicate too much information to be in the situation above: it usually calls for a NNN agreement.

(Note: each project is unique in its own ways, so there are many special cases. For example, if we need to use a piece of technology developed by an OEM supplier, the approach is necessarily different, since they might have more confidential information to protect than our client.)

If you want to learn even more about legal options and China manufacturing contracts, listen to this episode of our podcast:

Other tips

  • In our experience, it’s always better to try to keep your product or brand information from suppliers unless they’re conducting the final packing. We discuss this in more detail here: IP Protection For Manufacturers. Keep Component Suppliers In The Dark
  • There is a relationship between a supplier’s interest in IP infringement and your order volumes. Low volumes (let’s say USD 10k per order or less) won’t be as attractive.

 

Are you designing, or developing a new product that will be manufactured in China?

Sofeast has created An Importer’s Guide to New Product Manufacturing in China for entrepreneurs, hardware startups, and SMEs which gives you advance warning about the 3 most common pitfalls that can catch you out, and the best practices that the ‘large companies’ follow that YOU can adopt for a successful project.

It includes:

  • The 3 deadly mistakes that will hurt your ability to manufacture a new product in China effectively
  • Assessing if you’re China-ready
  • How to define an informed strategy and a realistic plan
  • How to structure your supply chain on a solid foundation
  • How to set the right expectations from the start
  • How to get the design and engineering right

Just hit the button below to get your copy:

An Importers Guide to New Product Manufacturing in China Guide