Tips to avoid trademark trouble in China and other countries

With all the trademark violations coming out of China (see IP Blog), it’s important for chief intellectual property officers to figure out how to avoid trouble in other countries if they hope to export or produce their patented products there. “What [intellectual property officers] often don’t realize though, is that trademark ownership can also influence their ability to source finished products from a particular country,” notes Chris Griffiths, the Toronto-based director of fine tune consulting, a boutique management consulting firm, in a recent article for the Globe and Mail.

“To have a product that you own made in, sold in, or exported from [any] country, you have to have legal rights to the brand,” he said. “So even if you don’t intend to sell in a country but do intend to have your product made there, a trademark is crucial protection against an interruption in your supply chain that will affect all of your markets.”