Doing Business in China: A Legal and Commercial Review

On Friday, October 3, 2014, I will be in Toledo, Ohio at the University of Toledo College of Law. I taught years ago as a Visiting Professor at the College of Law, have many friends still at the University, and my son is currently studying to become an electrical engineer at the University of Toledo College of Engineering, so I expect over the next several years I will find a variety of excuses to visit Toledo.

My excuse this time is to attend a program titled Doing Business in China: A Legal and Commercial Review on Friday, October 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. at the University of Toledo College of Law in the McQuade Law Auditorium at 1825 W. Rocket Drive, Toledo, Ohio. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. The cost to attend is $35.00, which includes a lunch. Vegetarian meals are available upon request.

The University of Toledo College of Law, Regional Growth Partnership, and the Confucius Institute at The University of Toledo are the lead sponsors for Doing Business in China, which is the first part of two programs. During 2014 the Confucius Institute will spearheaded this program to educate local business people and attorneys on the realities of doing business in China by bringing together a distinguished panel of academics, attorneys in private, public, and corporate in-house practice as well as senior business people to discussed the realties, the myths, and the risks of doing business in China. Next year, in 2015, the focus will shift and will be on the concerns of Chinese attorneys, business people, and their advisors relating to doing business or investing in the United States.

One of the goals of Doing Business in China is to refute myths regarding intellectual property protection in China and to provide an attorney or business person sufficient information to begin the risk assessment with respect to whether China represents a good strategic investment for a small-to-mid-size business. A highlight of the program will be a presentation on cross-cultural communication and negotiation for businesses and attorneys who will work with the Chinese counter parts with a discussing on how to avoid miscues and miscommunication.

“China is reaching major vitality as a destination for exports from the US and as a location for operations covering all of Asia. It has become the 3rd largest market for Ohio of exported manufactured goods and exports from Ohio to China have increased by 20% to a current level of $3.4 billion in 2013. For the Toledo region, China is also the 3rd largest export market with exports just in the automotive sector of some $40 million in the past year,” stated Paul Zito, Vice President of International Development at the Regional Growth Partnership. “Being the largest and fastest-growing market in Asia, China is also becoming very popular as a manufacturing and regional headquarters location for US companies to service the Asian markets. The importance of China as a major export destination and as the center of Asia will continue to provide opportunities for exporters and manufacturers.”

“We are very proud to have to opportunity to bring together almost all of the major players involved in doing business in China,” said Llewellyn Joseph Gibbons, Chair, Board of Directors of the Confucius Institute at The University of Toledo and Professor of Law. He continued “this program would not have been the success unless all of the stakeholders actively participated.”

According to Gibbons this program will be notably different than the a typical program that might take on the issue of doing business in China. In the standard program on doing business in China lawyers will be talking to lawyers or business people talking to business people, but there will be little if any real communication between these two important stakeholders constituencies. “This seminar was designed to bring lawyers and business people in the same room to focus on their joint concerns regarding doing business in China,” Gibbons explained. Although, at first glance this program may appear to be rather heavy on the law, the lawyer-presenters have been asked to gear their presentations at a level that is accessible to a non-lawyer business person, and when possible to provide practical information.

 

Speakers

  • Mark A. Cohen, Adjunct Professor, Fordham Law School and Senior Counsel, China, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
  • Vince DiPofi, Corporate Director of Business Development and Sr. Vice President, SSOE
  • Elizabeth Lai Featherman, Counsel, Mandelbaum Salsburg
  • Thomas Moga, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
  • Gary Nieman, Vice-President, Owens Corning
  • Phillip Rotman, Chief IP Counsel, Dana Corporation
  • James Rush, Executive Vice President, Communica
  • Peter Yu, Professor, Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law and is the founding director of the Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake University Law School
  • Paul Zito, Vice President of International Development at the Regional Growth Partnership

 

Agenda

8:00 am – 8:30 am Registration & Welcome
8:30 am – 9:30 am Patent Examination Standards in China
Thomas Moga, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
9:30 am – 10:15 am Creative Solutions for Combating Online Counterfeiting
Elizabeth Lai Featherman, Counsel, Mandelbaum Salsburg
10:15 am – 10:30 am Break
10:30 am – 11:15 am Consumer Privacy Issues in China
Ann Bartow, Professor, Pace Law School
11:15 am – 12:00 pm Intellectual Property Protection in China: Same Old, Same Old or Is There Something New?
Peter Yu, Professor, Drake University Law School
12:00 pm – 12:15 pm Lunch Provided
12:15 pm – 1:00 pm Evaluating the IP Risks of Doing Business in China
Mark Cohen, Adjunct Professor, Fordham Law School and Senior Counsel, China, United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”)
1:00 pm – 1:15 pm Break
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm Business and Legal Aspects of Cross Cultural Communications: US and China
TBA
2:15 pm – 3:15 pm Doing Business in China: Experiences (Panel)
Gary Nieman, Vice-President, Owens Corning
James Rush, Executive Vice President, Communica
Vince DiPofi, Sr. Vice President, SSOE
D. Paul Zito, Vice President of International Development, Regional Growth Partnership
3:15 pm – 3:30 pm Break
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm Conducting Business and Protecting US IP in China: Lessons Learned (Panel)
Phillip Rotman, Chief IP Counsel, Dana Corporation
Thomas Moga, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Elizabeth Lai Featherman, Counsel, Mandelbaum Salsburg
Lars Smith (Moderator), Professor, University of Louisville
4:30 pm – 5:15 pm Reception – UT College of Law

 

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One comment so far.

  • [Avatar for Jeff Lindsay]
    Jeff Lindsay
    September 29, 2014 10:54 am

    Looks great. There are many myths about IP in China, and some great news as China rises and steadily strengthens IP and innovation here. Still gaps, but some very positive trends as well.