China Law Blog

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Sourcing From China. The Captive Buyer Issue.
2012-02-10 18:08:00
About a month ago, we did a post, entitled, "Buying A Chinese Company? Why China Deals DON'T Get Done," on why (in our experience) so few deals to buy Chinese companies actually close. Our explanation was that the cost structure of a Chinese domestic company is going to radically increase when and if it becomes a United States owned entity (WFOE).  This will occur because the Chinese domestic company is (in most cases) not paying the taxes foreign entities simply cannot get away with not paying. In that post, we talked quite a bit about a particular deal that had not gone through after the client determined that labor costs would pretty much double. That case involved an American company that felt almost compelled to buy its Chinese supplier because the owner of that supplier was retiring. In the end, the client chose not to buy the Chinese company because of the increased operating expenses it would need to take on. However, in a stroke of luck, the manager of the Chinese com...

The End Of Cheap China, Part V. Even More On How YOU Must Prepare For It.
2012-02-07 12:48:00
In part IV of our continuing series on the end of cheap China and the impacts arising from that, co-blogger Steve Dickinson wrote about the increased risks product buyers are facing from their China-based manufacturers. That post concluded with Steve talking about why paying your Chinese manufacturer in advance for product can be so risky. In this post, Steve addresses other, better, payment options.  To summarize my last post (The End Of Cheap China, Part IV. More On How YOU Must Prepare For It), the following are the basic rules you should employ to pay for product produced by Chinese manufacturers: Avoid paying an advance deposit. If you must pay an advance deposit, understand the risk. Do not throw good money after bad in sticking with a manufacturer that shows it cannot do the job. Inspect the product before you pay. Ideally, do the inspection after delivery. If you inspect the product in China, take into account the risk of deception. Take your inspection seriously. ...

Another China WTO Loss. Another Nail In The Coffin Of World Trade.
2012-02-06 12:48:00
By: Steve Dickinson Preserving its track record of major defeats before the WTO, China recently lost its appeal of the WTO panel decision in the minerals export case. The appeal decision was issued on January 30 and can be found here. Briefly stated, the original panel report held that Chinese export duties and export quotas for certain industrial minerals violate WTO requirements. China was ordered to reduce its duties and dismantle its export quota system. China appealed and lost on all important issues. This decision has important implications. As most observers have noted, the real issue is export quotas and the real target is China’s export quota system for rare earths. Under the terms of this decision, China’s rare earths quota system is in clear violation of the WTO. The U.S. and others expect China to now act on its own and terminate the rare earths quota system. If this is not done voluntarily, the U.S. and the European Union have threatened to bring a follow-up...
More About: World , Trade , Loss , Coffin

Dr. Clarisse von Wunschheim On Arbitrating Your China Disputes, Part III. I
2012-02-05 16:08:00
This is part III (the last) of Dr. Clarisse von Wunschheim's three part series of guest posts on China arbitration. I asked Dr. von Wunschheim to write this series because arbitration is so important to so many China transactions and she literally wrote the book on China arbitration: Enforcement of Commercial Arbitral Awards in China.  More from Dr. Von Wunschheim: PART 3:      &nb sp;  Relevant Criteria for Selection between Arbitration in or outside China – Are enforcement issues really so important?   In my previous posts, I set out the context of the battle between arbitration in or outside China and the arguments that the supporters of each option commonly rely upon. I further explained the reasons why I am not convinced by most these arguments, the main reason being that I believe the pros and cons invoked by the supporters of either option to be largely directed by their fear and ignorance of the other option, and are n...
More About: Part , Disputes

Dr. Clarisse von Wunschheim On Arbitrating Your China Disputes, Part II. In
2012-02-04 17:08:00
This is part II of Dr. Clarisse von Wunschheim's series of guest posts on China arbitration. I asked to write this series because arbitration is of such crucial importance to so many China transactions and she literally wrote the book on China arbitration: Enforcement of Commercial Arbitral Awards in China. More from Dr. Von Wunschheim: PART 2:      &nb sp;  Pros & Cons of Arbitration Inside and Outside China In my previous post, I tried to establish that though the question of whether to arbitrate in or outside China may seem to be primarily relevant for so-called ‘foreign-related’ contracts, it actually concerns all kinds of China-related contracts.  Today’s post aims to determine the main pros and cons of each option, as well as the current trends which they give rise to. Referring to the arguments most often invoked by the supporters of each option, the main pros and cons can be summarized as follows: ARBITRATI...
More About: Part , Disputes

Dr. Clarisse von Wunschheim On Arbitrating Your China Disputes, Part I. The
2012-02-03 05:08:00
We are always writing on the importance of China contracts having a well-crafted dispute resolution provision. My favorite line about this is the following, from the post, "Arbitration In Your China Contract. Adult Supervision Required": With sushi restaurants, it's the yellow-fin. With new houses, it's the windows. With international contracts, it's the dispute resolution provision. The "it" I am talking about is the one easiest, fastest, most accurate, way to judge whether something is good or not. And the way I judge international contracts is by heading straight to the dispute resolution provision. The well crafted provision is, above all else, unambiguous. If it calls for litigation, it says where it will be and what law will apply. And it says who will pay for it and under what circumstances. If it calls for arbitration, it says where it will be, how many arbitrators will be required, how the arbitrators will be chosen, the language of the proce...
More About: Part , Disputes

The End Of Cheap China, Part IV. More On How YOU Must Prepare For It.
2012-02-01 16:38:00
By: Steve Dickinson In my previous post in this series on the end of cheap China , I noted that the risks relating to purchases from Chinese manufacturers are rising in the export sector in China's Eastern provinces. Given the risks, it surprises me that I still see many buyers who continue to use the worst payment system possible in their dealings with Chinese manufacturers. The standard (terrible) system for payment in most of the export sector is: 30% down payment on signing of contract with the remaining 70% payable prior to shipment.Why is this a terrible system for the Buyer? Let's consider the deposit system first. It is common for a Buyer to learn that the manufacturer is not able to make the product, makes the product with excessive defects or substantially delays in delivering the product. If the Buyer has paid a 30% deposit, the Buyer is basically "stuck" with the manufacturer and is not able to go elsewhere even after these problems are discovered. I have seen many Buye...
More About: Part , Cheap

The End Of Cheap China, Part III. How YOU Must Prepare For It.
2012-01-30 18:58:00
We have been writing frequently regarding the end of cheap China because we are just about every day seeing how this impacts our (mostly American) clients. This post by Steve Dickinson is on how buyers of manufactured product from China's Pearl River Delta are going to be impacted by the end of cheap China. Here is Steve's post: The excellent Chinese financial journal Cai Jing recently published an article, entitled, Dire Straits in the Pearl River Delta, detailing the financial problems facing export-oriented manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangzhou Province. The article includes the standard lament that these businesses are not being adequately supported by the central government. However, the truth is that these manufacturing businesses are under financial pressure simply because they are no longer competitive. These manufacturers of toys, clothing, shoes, furniture and housewares are standard high volume, high employment, low technology and low margin operato...
More About: Part , Cheap

Learn Chinese For Business? The Pros And Cons
2012-01-30 04:58:00
The following is a guest post by Jonathan Poston. Jonathan is the Editor-in-Chief of the Learn Chinese Business Blog and Chinese Carolinas. Though learning Chinese well is obviously helpful for doing business in or with China, actually accomplishing can be so difficult that many a learner has given up or just pondered whether it is worth it. I asked Jonathan to write a post on the pros and cons of learning Chinese for business because his Learn Chinese Business blog so often delves into issues relating to China's business culture. Here's Jonathan's post:If you Google “When will Chinese economy overtake US,” you will notice how many of the top results spit back a year that is closer than five years away: 2016. Though no one can predict the future, consider that China is already the second greatest economic power in the world, which begs the question as to when learning Mandarin-Chinese will be mandatory for aspiring international business people worth their mettle. Let...

China Rep Offices, Bankruptcies And The Perils Of Being Chief Representativ
2012-01-26 14:55:00
I know I keep reading how China 's economy is just fine, but my firm just keeps getting more inquiries and more work relating to shutting down offices and companies in China.  Of those, the most heartbreaking are coming from Chief Representatives of China Representative Offices who are concerned about their own liabilities when their China Rep Office closes. Typically, the Chief Representative tells the Rep Office employees that the Rep Office is going to be shutting down. Naturally enough, the employees ask about their getting paid. The Chief Representative usually tells them not to worry, which causes them to worry more and go to their local government. A local government official then comes by and informs the Chief Representative that he or she is PERSONALLY responsible for paying the Rep Office's employee salaries AND all outstanding taxes.  The Chief Representative then contacts my firm and we tell him or her that he or she does indeed run a very real risk of being o...

China Product Quality Problem? Here's My Template Answer.
2012-01-24 18:18:00
Because I receive countless emails every day and because so many of them involve the same questions, I have developed various templates to respond.  Here's the template I use when a US company writes me with a China product quality problem and the contract they have provided me is not good at all. Much of the time the US has no contract at all, but usually when they do have one, it is usualy so bad as to work against them. Here's my "stock" answer in that situation. This is our template response when the contract calls for arbitration in a US city but is pretty much silent on everything else (a far too common scenario when non-lawyers draft a contract). It's a tough case and your contract does not help matters at all. What you probably will need to do is begin arbitration in [US City] and serve [the Chinese company] via the Hague Convention. This will require translating the complaint into Chinese and serving it through the Chinese court system, which takes months. We write...
More About: Answer , Product , Template , Problem

China Grammar Wiki. What A Great Idea!
2012-01-22 23:08:00
I think (and hope) this is the first time we have used an exclamation point in a blog post title and I assure you that this will not become common. I just am so impressed by the idea and the ingenuity and the hard work and the sheer helpfullness of the AllSet Chinese Grammar Wiki . I first learned of the Wiki from Ryan over at Lost Laowai, who in his post, "Chinese Grammar Wiki: Learning Chinese grammar just got easier," had this to say about it: AllSet Learning, the Shanghai-based language learning consultancy founded by long-time China blogger John Pasden, has just released what is surely a boon for mandarin learners who aspire to achieve better Chinese grammar — the Chinese Grammar Wiki....   As an on-again, off-again Chinese learner, I’m pretty excited for the resource. Few people I’ve met have spent as much time as John thinking about language learning, particularly as to how it relates to Chinese. His blog and various resources at Sinosplice have been...
More About: Great , Idea

China. The Full On Harvard Course.
2012-01-22 15:48:00
Malcolm Riddell at China Debate just did a post noting how Harvard University has posted online (for free!) a 37 class course on China. The 37 lectures were filmed as they were given as part of a course entitled, China: Traditions and Transformations. The course was/is taught by William C. Kirby and Peter K. Bol.   Here is the course description: Modern China presents a dual image: a society transforming itself through economic development and social revolution; and the world’s largest and oldest bureaucratic state, coping with longstanding problems of economic and political management. Both images bear the indelible imprint of China’s historical experience, of its patterns of philosophy and religion, and of its social and political thought. These themes are discussed in order to understand China in the modern world and as a great world civilization that developed along lines different from those of the Mediterranean. This course is part of Harvard's o...
More About: Full

The End of Cheap China. Part II.
2012-01-21 22:28:00
Last week, we did a post enttitled, "The End of Cheap China , With A Giant Caveat." The point of that post was to pick up on the widespread discussion regarding the end of cheap China, but to highlight how this "end" has, and will continue to, impact foreign companies very differently. Our initial "end of cheap China" post was based mostly on a "Made in America, Again: Why Manufacturing Will Return to the United States, a Boston Consulting Group study that jump-started the end of cheap China discussion. Yesterday, i was alerted to two very recent and very good articles addressing the end of cheap China issue. The first is a post by Michael Zakkour over at the China Business Blog and Podcast, entitled, "The End of Cheap China. But Not China Manufacturing." Michael starts by positing that "the cheap China era is over, but China manufacturing isn't." He goes on to note the following, all of which he contends portend just fine for Chinese manufacturing: China is not going to be able t...
More About: Part

China Joint Ventures Tips. You Have Been Warned.
2012-01-19 20:28:00
The Foreign Entrepreneurs in China blog is in the midst of a very worthwhile three part series, entitled, "A China Joint Venture Survival Guide. 22 Facts and 22 Practical Tips ." The series is now at tips 9 through 15 and I like all of them. Not only are they good tips for those contemplating doing a China Joint Venture, most are are good tips for those contemplating or doing business in or with China as well. Here is a summary of each tip, followed by my own analysis of it in italic font. 9. Your Potential Partner is Well Connected … Maybe Good, Maybe Bad. "Do not be dazzled by your partner’s connections …They will not necessarily be used for your benefit. The fact that your partner is well connected is good (you obviously don’t want to end up with a nobody), but it is also a fact that at times those connections are only used for their own benefit."  Absolutely true. Whatever "power" your China joint venture partner has to help the joint venture, it...

Shanghai Rego International School. One-Off Or Sign Of Things To Come?
2012-01-19 16:28:00
At least once a month, I get an email from an English teacher in China wanting to start a language consulting business or school in China. I have a form response that summarizes what it will likely take and likely cost for them to do so legally. Virtually none of them had any idea of the difficulties and costs in starting such businesses. My law firm represents a good number of existing international schools in China and we are right now working on at least double the number of legal issues as usual for them. Today I saw a Shanghai ist post on "issues" being faced by Shanghai Rego International School . The post entitled, "Shanghai Rego International School now facing forced relocation," details how the school is being forced to move as its facility is being taken over for a public school: However an official surnamed Hua with the district's Education Bureau said there were no safety issues but said the school probably will have to relocate because the bureau has decided not to le...
More About: Sign , Things

The End Of Cheap China, With A Giant Caveat.
2012-01-18 18:48:00
The Boston Consulting Group came out with an excellent piece last year, entitled, "Made in America, Again: Why Manufacturing Will Return to the United States." An excellent summary of that article can be found here, from which I pull the following: Within the next five years, the United States is expected to experience a manufacturing renaissance as the wage gap with China shrinks and certain U.S. states become some of the cheapest locations for manufacturing in the developed world, according to a new analysis by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). With Chinese wages rising at about 17 percent per year and the value of the yuan continuing to increase, the gap between U.S. and Chinese wages is narrowing rapidly. Meanwhile, flexible work rules and a host of government incentives are making many states—including Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama—increasingly competitive as low-cost bases for supplying the U.S. market. “All over China, wages are climb...
More About: Giant , Cheap

Why Hiring China-Based "Employees" Without A Company Is Bad Busin
2012-01-18 07:28:00
Today I had a long conversation with a couple of out of town lawyers who had called me regarding whether their client should shut down its China Representative Office and form a WFOE. My advise was that there was no need to do so from a legal perspective (because the company was that rare and dying beast: a truly legal China Rep Office), but it should ask itself whether it still made sense from a strictly business perspective. I then talked of how WFOEs are able to do so much more in China than Rep Offices, not least of which is get paid in RMB. I concluded by saying that the decision would be strictly business. After I got off the phone, I though of how one of the things I love about what I do is the mix of law and business. My firm supplies the legal acumen and we mostly rely on our clients to supply the business acumen. I am always stressing to my clients that though I will do my utmost to understand their business, I will never know it as well as they do. I help with their busin...
More About: Employees , Company , Hiring

Dueling Translations. You Got That Right. Why Chinese Is Our Favorite Contr
2012-01-17 07:28:00
Blog post at Letters Blogatory, entitled, "Dueling Translations ," expresses surprise/concern over how both parties in an ultra-high stakes international litigation matter "actually submitted dueling certified translations of the Ecuadoran appellate court’s decision (Chevron’s is here, the Lago Agrio plainitffs’ is here)." The post questions this as a waste of time/money: Really? Dueling translations? I know that Randy Mastro and James Tyrrell are top lawyers at major law firms, and that this is extremely high-stakes litigation, but I would like humbly to suggest that the two of them sit down for a beer summit and see if they can find some way to reduce what has got to be the awe-inspiring litigation budget. I disagree. He/she who controls the language can control the case. The following spring to mind: 1.  Whenever the other side in a case submits a translated document, I almost always move to strike it unless the translator has attached a declaration/affida...
More About: Chinese

China Due Diligence. Cause It Really Really Really Matters.
2012-01-14 20:18:00
As you can tell, I am a big fan of The Rule of Threes. Back in September, 2011, I wrote a post regarding a China deal that appeared to have badly soured. The post was entitled, China FDI, Whatever Happened To Show Me? and it was on a China deal that went bad for the small Missouri town of Moberly. The point of my article was to emphasize the importance of conducting due diligence before entering a China (or any) deal: So why am I writing about this and how is this relevant to you?  I am writing about it because it appears (having only "seen" this from afar I do not know) that the government fell into three classic traps. First, it appears that various governments got overly excited about the possibility of getting Chinese money. It appears it fell prey to the classic "China is rich. We want money. Therefore this is a good deal" syndrome. Second, it appears nobody conducted adequate due diligence. Were the very valid suspicions of my e-mailer ever checked out? I doubt it...

Chinese Students In America. It's Bad Out There.
2012-01-11 23:28:00
Much has been written about Chinese students coming to America n colleges. An article out today, entitled, "Chinese applications to U.S. schools skyrocket," starts out quoting a Chinese high schooler who is contemplating attending the University of Washington: I know this [ambition] is pretty high,” said the 17-year old Beijing native.  “But I think I can give it a shot.”  To prepare, Duan wants to study international relations at an American college – someplace like the University of Washington. “I hear [it] is good at social science," she said. The University of Washington is one of approximately 10 U.S. universities Duan plans to apply to in the coming year with the help of an education consultant she hired last summer. That got me to thinking about the complaints (yes, it has been nothing but complaints) I have heard from college students (the majority of whom are at the University of Washington) about their fell...
More About: Students

How Not To Write A Joint Venture Agreement
2012-01-11 04:28:00
Many moons ago, a company contacted us wanting to sue its Chinese joint venture partner for having "clearly" violated their joint venture agreement. We looked at their case and advised them not to bother pursuing it. It had nearly every hallmark of the China deal gone bad, due almost entirely to the fault of the American company. Here were just some of its shortcomings: The contracts between the Chinese and the American company were drafted by one lawyer. A local lawyer in the small town in which the joint venture is located? Who do you think this lawyer favored. The joint venture was supposed to fulfill all sorts of obligations to the American company. In fact, it was these obligations that made the joint venture so tempting to the American company. But, the contracts were written so that these obligations were attached to the Chinese company that was entering into the joint venture, not to the joint venture itself. The Chinese company that had these obligations was (unlike the...
More About: Venture , Write

China's New Foreign Investment Catalog. The Scope Of FDI.
2012-01-09 19:48:00
By:  Steve DickinsonAt the end of December, the NDRC issued its long awaited 2011 revision to the Catalog for Guidance for Foreign Investment 外商投资产业指导目录（2011å¹´ä ¿®è®¢). It is a central policy of the Chinese government that foreign investment must be made in a manner that is consistent with Chinese policy and in a way that will promote China 's development. China therefore follows a policy of guided investment, and the Catalog is the guide. The first Catalog was issued in 1995. This is the fifth revision, replacing the 2007 Catalog. This 2011 version of the Catalog will take effect on January 30, 2012. Foreign invested enterprises approved prior to the effective date will not be effected. However, any changes to existing foreign invested projects that take effect after the effective date must comply with the terms of the new Catalog.The encouraged category shows where the Chinese government wants foreign investment to go. The restricted and prohibited categ...
More About: Foreign Investment

Getting Your Share From China's Movie Box Office. Good Luck With That.
2012-01-08 16:18:00
As regular readers know, there is nothing I like more than being able to create a post straight from what goes into my email box. I am able to do that today by way of having been cc'ed on a long email discussion between our Beijing-based attorney, Mathew Alderson (who does quite a bit of China film law) and Rob Buckham, of Oceana Films China. The discussion started when Mr. Buckham wrote Mathew regarding foreign companies sharing in China movie box office receipts. Buckham:  Quick question.  In one of your blog posts, you say that "Insufficient attention is given to the issue of garnering a share of the box office." We naturally assume we will be "ripped off" for any box office receipts in China . . . . Alderson:  That is a sound assumption. Buckham:  … and therefore would normally structure the deals so that we would get any dollars we actually expect from China (ever) to be cash up front from the Chinese participants. Alderson:   That is the b...
More About: Movie , Office , Share , Good

Buying A Chinese Company? Why China Deals DON'T Get Done.
2012-01-06 16:38:00
We lawyers are known as deal-killers. Most lawyers get offended by that moniker and vehemently deny it. Me, I am more than willing to own up to it. Clients go to lawyers all excited about a deal and it is the lawyer's job to point out the risks and to explain which of those risks can be mitigated and which cannot. I am proud of the deals I killed because my killing the deal meant I was doing right by my client. In other words, I was just doing my job.  I have put the kibosh on many a China acquisition and that is what this post is about. The following is actually an amalgamation of many such potential acquisitions, but for ease of explanation and to camouflage the identities of those involved, I have amalgamated a bunch of them into one. Trust me when I say that the following is incredibly typical, including the retirement of the owner precipitating the need for the deal. The potential deal was for a US manufacturer that had been receiving its product from the same China manuf...
More About: Buying , Company , Chinese

They Like China Law Blog. They Really Like Us.
2012-01-05 07:08:00
Back when China Law Blog was a young pup, the Wall Street Journal Blog referenced one of our posts and we went all Sally Fields about that. We ran a post, entitled, "The Wall Street Journal -- They Like Us. They Really Like Us," the sole purpose of which (near as I can tell nearly six years later) was to let everyone know that the Wall Street Journal had noticed us. We are, of course, far too cool/wise/jaded/experienced/old to act that way now. Or so I thought until I read a post on theContractsGuy Blog, entitled, "The Reading List: China Law Blog." The author of that post, St. Louis business lawyer, Brian Rogers, so totally understands this blog that his post felt like confirmation of what we are seeking to achieve here. In addition to that (or better yet, because of that), Rogers' post does a phenomenal job listing out what are probably our best (or at least most practical/helpful) posts for 2011. I am not going to list all the posts Rogers lists because i want to make sure you ...

Will India Challenge China?
2012-01-03 06:18:00
Just read a very interesting post, entitled, "Will India Challenge China ? Not yet." The post is by GE Anderson over at the ChinaBizGov blog. I know GE Anderson to be one very smart guy (with a Ph.d and an upcoming book to prove it) and one damn fine analyst of things China, particularly those things relating to China's auto industry. He wrote his post on India after having spent a couple of weeks there.  Now before anyone points out the shortcomings of views based on a two week visit, let me stop you by saying I both agree and disagree with you (only we lawyers can say things like that). I disagree because one can get a "sense" of a country in two weeks and then use that sense, coupled with previous readings, to glean and then convey one's impressions. I buy into the idea that first impressions are far more accurate than often credited and I am a huge fan of the book, Blink. Before I agree with you, I would like to note that I have never been to India and I do not purport to ...

US Courts For Chinese Litigants. The Year In Review.
2012-01-01 17:28:00
The following is a guest post by Ted Folkman, the force behind the Letters Blogatory blog, of which I am a long-time fan. Letters Blogatory has a very tight (and for me, very interesting focus). It "covers international judicial assistance in civil and commercial cases," which means the following: Service of process abroad, including service under the Hague Service Convention Obtaining evidence abroad for use in the United States, including proceedings under the Hague Evidence Convention Obtaining evidence in the United States for use abroad, including proceedings under the judicial assistance statute Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments Recognition and enforcement of international arbitral awards, including awards under the New York Convention Authentication of foreign public documents, including use of the Hague Apostille Convention I find Ted's blog extremely interesting because it deals essentially with what it really takes to get the job done in international lit...
More About: Review , Chinese , Courts

China In Africa. The Real Story.
2011-12-31 11:08:00
Kudos to my basketball-challenged friend over at the always excellent (and often retrograde) What About Paris Blog for alerting me to the China in Africa : The Real Story blog. The China in Africa blog is written by Deborah Brautigam, who describes herself as follows:  I'm a professor in American University's International Development Program in the School of International Service. I am spending 2011-2012 as a visiting fellow at IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute). I've lived in Asia and Africa, studied Chinese for years, and done research in more than a dozen countries in Africa. In January 2010 I published The Dragon's Gift, a book on Chinese aid and economic engagement in Africa (Oxford University Press -- revised and updated for the paperback edition, published May/June 2011). This blog takes up where that book left off. Stay tuned for analysis of China's "land grabs" in Africa, the China International Fund in Guinea and Zimbabwe, and so on....

China And Hong Kong Trademarks. Think Puerto Rico.
2011-12-30 16:48:00
Just got back from a family vacation in Puerto Rico . While there, I saw a rental car company called "Target." This company had the same logo as the Target stores so common on the U.S. mainland. Well of course that got me to thinking. Is this rental car company infringing on Target (the store's) trade-name and trademark (the logo)?  Or is it the case that even though Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, its trademark regime is separate from the United States? My research quickly determined that Puerto Rico's trademark regime is actually separate from that of the United States. In other words, if you want your name or mark trademarked in both the United States and Puerto Rico, you should register it in both places. Presumably, Target rental car beat Target stores to the name and logo in Puerto Rico and is now able to use both legally there.  Hong Kong and China are the same way. And Taiwan and Macau too. I am constantly having to explain this to our clients, at least half of w...