By James Rowland  King & Wood Mallesons Dispute Resolution Group

I.    Background

The Claimants were three Singaporean companies which had been set up to hold shares in a number of sino-foreign joint ventures established under JV contracts governed by PRC law (the “JVs”). The fourth claimant was the parent company of the first three claimants, and had entered into a Services Agreement with the general manager of the JVs (the “Services Agreement”). He was in turn the chairman and legal representative of each of the JVs and of each of their Chinese shareholders. The Service Agreement was governed for the most part by PRC law, although it contained a non-competition clause governed by English law.

The Defendants were the BVI shareholders in a number of Chinese enterprises (the “Non-JVs”) which had been gradually assimilated into the JVs’ manufacturing supply-chain. After many years both the JVs and Non-JVs were operating as an integrated manufacturing and sales business.

Continue Reading Freezing China Assets through the BVI Courts–A British Virgin Islands (BVI) case demonstrates some of the difficulty of obtaining interim relief in arbitration as well as in parallel civil litigation

作者：罗必成 金杜律师事务所争议解决组

一、    背景

在达能亚洲诉金朝有限公司案中，原告为三家新加坡公司，设立这三家公司的目的是为了通过其进而持有多家中外合资公司的股份，这些中外合资公司依照中国法律签订中外合资合同而设立（“合资公司”）。第四位原告是上述三家公司的母公司，其与合资公司的总经理签订立了“服务协议”。协议签订后，该总经理同时担任各家合资公司及其中方股东的董事长及法人代表。服务协议中除了竟业禁止条款适用英国法，其它大部分内容仍适用中国法。

被告为多家中国公司（“非合资公司”）的英属维京群岛（British Virgin Islands，“BVI”）的股东， 这些非合资公司逐渐被合资公司的制造供应链吸收，多年来这些合资公司与非合资公司一直以生产销售一体化的方式运营。

Continue Reading 通过BVI法院冻结中国资产–以BVI案件为例解析在境外仲裁及平行民事诉讼中寻求申请临时令救济禁令的风险

By He Wei  King & Wood Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution Group

I.    Introduction

Although Chinese enterprises are often engaged in disputes arising out of international fertilizer transactions, generally a large number of these enterprises are struggling, since they are unacquainted with international dispute resolution mechanisms, and the numerous highly technical issues that are involved in relevant international sale contracts. However, in January 2009, a Chinese fertilizer company obtained the first ever victory in offshore arbitration, in which expert witnesses played an important role.

Continue Reading The First Victory for PRC Fertilizer Enterprises in Offshore Arbitration

作者：何薇  金杜律师事务所争议解决组

一、    前言

由于不熟悉国际贸易争议解决机制，并且国际化肥买卖合同中往往涉及诸多专业性较强的技术问题，很多中国企业在解决此类国际贸易纠纷时举步维艰。然而，2009年1月，中国某化肥类企业首次在境外仲裁中取得胜诉。在该案中，专家证人的证言成为决定性因素。

Continue Reading 首例中国化肥业”走出去”案件在境外仲裁中取得胜诉

By King & Wood Mallesons’ Trademark Group

On December 16, 2011, the Supreme People’s Court of China issued the Opinions on Exerting the Function of Intellectual Property Rights Judgment to Facilitate Socialist Cultural Development and Prosperity and Promote Independent and Coordinated Economic Development (the "Opinions"). The Opinions provide several guidelines on the trial of trademark infringement cases, which mainly touch upon the following issues:

a. Deliberate plagiarism in bad faith. To determine whether an alleged infringer has acted in bad faith, the trial court shall adopt comprehensive criteria by taking into account the reputation and distinctiveness of trademarks, similarities between trademarks and designated goods, and whether the applicant/registrant has the intention to use the mark and the improper use of the marks, such as trademark squatting and free-riding activities.

Continue Reading The Supreme People’s Court: Giving Full Play to Intellectual Property Trial Functions

作者：金杜律师事务所商标组

2011年12月16日，最高人民法院印发了《关于充分发挥知识产权审判职能作用推动社会主义文化大发展大繁荣和促进经济自主协调发展若干问题的意见》的通知，针对知识产权问题的审判工作提供了指导性意见，其中有关商标的重要内容包括：

1. 关于恶意抢注等不正当行为： 依法加强商标权保护，要根据商标的知名度、显著程度等，恰当运用商标近似、商品类似、在先使用并且有一定影响的商标、以欺骗或者其他不正当手段取得商标注册等裁量性法律标准，妥善把握商标注册申请人或者注册人是否有真实使用意图，以及结合商标使用过程中的“傍名牌”行为认定主观恶意等加大遏制恶意抢注、“傍名牌”等不正当行为的力度。

Continue Reading 一最高人民法院最新有关充分发挥知识产权审判职能作用的意见

King & Wood Mallesons’ Labor & Employment Group

The Decision to Amend the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Treatment of Occupational Diseases was adopted by the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’ s Congress on December 31st, 2011. The amended Law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Treatment of Occupational Diseases (hereinafter "Law") came into force on the same day.

In order to protect the rights and interests of patients with occupational diseases, the Law makes diagnosis and appraisal of occupational diseases more practicable. For instance, if an occupational disease diagnosis or appraisal institution deems necessary to investigate the hazardous factors that may result in occupational diseases in the workplace, the institution may conduct an on-site investigation itself, or request the administrative departments of work safety supervision to so investigate. Upon the request, the administrative departments shall make an on-site investigation within 10 days. And employers shall not refuse or hinder the foresaid investigations.

Continue Reading New Law on Prevention and Treatment of Occupational Diseases Strengthens the Protection for Employees

金杜律师事务所劳动法组

2011年12月31日，十一届全国人民代表大会常务委员会表决通过了修改《中华人民共和国职业病防治法》的决定。修订后的《中华人民共和国职业病防治法》（以下简称“新《职业病防治法》”）已于同日起施行。

为保障职业病病人的权益，新《职业病防治法》加强了职业病诊断、鉴定的可操作性，规定当职业病诊断、鉴定机构认为需要了解工作场所职业病危害因素情况时，可以对工作场所进行现场调查，也可以向安全生产监督管理部门提出，安全生产监督管理部门应当在十日内组织现场调查，用人单位不得拒绝、阻挠。

Continue Reading 新职业病防治法加强对劳动者保护

By Liu Xiang Wen Xia Dongxia and Li Xinyu King & Wood’s Dispute Resolution Group

Under PRC laws, the legal representative of a company is the person who acts in the name of the company and represents the company in the exercise of its rights and obligations. The legal representative is a fundamental part of a company’s corporate governance structure. To an extent, the person who is appointed to the position of the legal representative is authorized to conduct many of the company’s affairs. However, the legal representative must fulfill certain duties while exercising his/her rights. This article will briefly introduce the potential legal risks that a legal representative may face under civil, criminal and administrative laws and how such risks are often prevented or minimized based on China’s legal practices.

I. The legal representative of a company should also be its board chairman or its general manager

Continue Reading Minimizing the Risks that Legal Representatives Face

作者：刘相文 夏东霞 李欣宇 金杜律师事务所争议解决组

根据我国法律，公司的法定代表人是指依法代表法人行使民事权利，履行民事义务的主要负责人，对外以公司名义行事。法定代表人是公司法人治理结构最重要的组成部分。从某种意义上讲，担任了公司的法定代表人，即掌控了公司的核心权力。然而，法定代表人在行使权力的同时，也必须承担相应的法律责任。本文拟从民事、刑事和行政三个方面，对公司法定代表人可能承担的法律责任做简要分析，并结合我国司法实践对法定代表人法律风险的防范提出建议。

一、公司的法定代表人应由公司的董事长或总经理担任

Continue Reading 公司法定代表人的法律风险及防范