By Mark Schaub, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood Shanghai
Most companies engaging in a China project will likely need support from external consultants. This final section highlights the remaining members of the China deal team, including translators, accountants, and outside counsel.
Continue Reading China M&A: Assembling an Effective Team for a China Transaction Part III
By Mark Schaub, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood Shanghai
Most companies engaging in a China project will likely need support from external consultants. However, selecting the external team is often more difficult than assembling the internal team — who do you need? How do you find good ones? And what role should they play? This portion highlights the infamous China consultant. What kind of role do they play and do you actually need them?
Continue Reading China M&A: Assembling an Effective Team for a China Transaction Part II
By Kenneth Choy, Partner, King & Wood – Hong Kong
The United States Supreme Court finally issued its decision on Bilski v. Kappos just before it shut down for the summer. As widely expected, the justices unanimously agreed that the Bilski claims are abstract ideas which are nonpatentable and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit properly rejected the claims. However, the court’s decision, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, left many dissatisfied as it declined to clarify limitations on the patentability of business method claims. The high court simply rejected the Federal Circuit’s view that the machine-or-transformation test was the exclusive test for patentable process claims and instead, looked back to the last century, to its cases of Gottschalk v. Benson, (1972), Parker v. Flook, (1978) and Diamond v. Diehr, (1981) to find the “guideposts” and §100(b) the Patent Act for the definition of “process”.
Continue Reading Bringing the U.S. patent regime closer to China’s? Bilski v. Kappos
By Mark Schaub, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood Shanghai
Many West European and US companies have thinned out their ranks of middle management in the never-ending pursuit of shareholder value. A China project is likely to be more time intensive and involved (and therefore expensive) than the foreign company initially forecasts. For this reason many foreign investors in China face difficulties in assembling a successful business project team to implement the project. Part I discusses the assembling of an effective in-house team.
Continue Reading China M&A: Assembling an Effective Team for a China Transaction Part I
By Ariel Ye, Partner, Dispute Resolution, King & Wood Beijing *
In a recent session held May 29, 2010, the International Bar Association (the “IBA”) Council approved the 2010 revision to the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration (the “Rules”).
Continue Reading Keeping pace with the times…. the revised IBA Rules of Evidence
By Susan Ning, Ronald Arculli, Peter Waters, and Angie Ng of King & Wood and Gilbert + Tobin (1)
Hong Kong’s Competition Bill (the Bill) was gazetted on 2 July 2010.(2) Formal public consultations on a cross-sector competition law for Hong Kong commenced in 2006. The Bill will be tabled in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) on 14 July 2010. When the Bill becomes law, it will be known as the Competition Ordinance (CO).
By Mark Schaub, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood Shanghai
On May 19, 2010, the People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) issued a new set of regulations for online payment service providers that will take effect on September 1, 2010. The new regulations bring payment services within the banking regulatory scheme.
Continue Reading China Retailers Beware…New Payment Restrictions may Impact your Revenue Channels!
By Kenneth Choy, Partner, King & Wood – Hong Kong
At times, an international company may find that their application for registration of a trademark is rejected by the Chinese Trademark Office. When this happens and all administrative appeals are exhausted, are there alternative means of brand protection available in China?
Continue Reading Copyright Protection for your Brand when Trademark Protection is Unavailable
By Mark Schaub, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood Shanghai
China’s first Renewable Energy Law came into effect on 1st January 2006 and serves as a basis to meet goals like reducing air pollution; protecting human health and the environment; strengthening and developing energy supply to rural areas; promoting investment and development of renewable energy; etc. The PRC Renewable Energy Law is also a framework for various provincial government agencies and local authorities which implement the law in a large number of more detailed plans, rules and regulations. After four years of rapid change and expansion of China’s renewable energy sector, the Standing Committee of the National’s People’s Congress passed amendments to the Renewable Energy Law in December 2009, which now came into effect on 1 April 2010.
By Mark Schaub, Partner, Corporate, King & Wood Shanghai
See also: King & Wood‘s Tax Practice.
On February 20, 2010, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) issued the “Measures for the Administration of Taxation on Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises” (Guo Shui Fa [2010] No. 18) (the “Rep Office Tax Measures”) to reform the taxation rules applicable to representative offices of foreign enterprises in China (“Rep Office”). The Rep Office Tax Measures, which are retroactively effective from January 1, 2010, revise existing Rep Office taxation rules inter alia by abolishing previous tax exemptions and increasing the minimum deemed profit rate. Prior to effectiveness of the Rep Office Tax Measures, Rep Offices were taxed in one of three ways, (i) based on their actual profits (“Actual Profit Method”), (ii) based on their “deemed profits” (“Deemed Profit Method”) or (iii) not subject to tax (“Tax Exemption”) when certain criteria were met. The major changes brought about by the Rep Office Tax Measures include: