作者： 李咏梅 诉讼仲裁组 国内诉讼部

近年来，“中国制造”频频被曝存在质量问题。从水产养殖产品到牙膏，从沙滩车到汽车轮胎，从玩具到手机……中国出口产品在国际市场引发“信任危机”。同时，国内 “手机爆炸”到 “欣弗”等产品缺陷致人死亡事件，也频频牵动人们的神经，产品安全问题一再凸现在国人面前。

Continue Reading 召回？召回！

By： Li Yongmei King & Wood’s Domestic Litigation & Arbitration Practice

Recent issues regarding Chinese products have focused on the gaps remaining in the law.  However, the gaps are quickly closing.  Product safety has become a top priority for China. Chinese authorities have streamlined the legislative process for product recalls at all levels…

Continue Reading Chinese Law on Product Recalls- A Work in Progress

作者 李文博 国际贸易部

2008年6月11日，金杜荣幸的邀请到美国并购领域著名律师事务所Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz的创始合伙人Martin Lipton先生前来交流访问。Lipton先生在金杜就法律从业以及毒丸计划的影响两个话题做了演讲。Lipton先生在法律实务领域成就卓越，最体现其智慧和创造力的无疑要数“权利计划”，即目标公司董事会采取的一系列反收购措施，用于抵御股权收购者低估目标公司价值的收购计划。由于此后华尔街银行家们的敌意收购计划由于“权利计划”屡屡受挫，因此他们称“权利计划”为“毒丸计划”。

Continue Reading 中国为什么没有”毒丸计划”？

By: Li Wenbo   King & Wood’s  International Trade Group

Last month, Mr. Martin Lipton, of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, honored King & Wood with a speech on the implications of the “poison pill” in legal practice.  Mr. Lipton is noted for hisinnovative "rights plan", a series of defensive measures taken by the board of a target company in a hostile takeover.  The “rights plan” is meant to ward off hostile offers that substantially underestimate the value of the target’s shares.  The rights plan was later referred to as the "poison pill" by Wall Street bankers whose attempts at hostile takeover below fair value were frequently frustrated by the "rights plan."

Mr. Lipton’s speech inspired me to ponder the question of how defensive measures work in China’s corporate governance.  I then googled the word "poison pill" and "company" in Chinese, but found no instances of companies utilizing the poison pill within China.  So why is there no poison pill in China?
 

 

Continue Reading Why No Poison Pill in China?

The “Law of the People’s Republic of China on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes” (“the New Law”) came into force on May 1, 2008. This promulgation has introduced many innovative concepts to Chinese law. The most notable change was the extension of the statutory period for filing arbitration applications in labor disputes.

By Xu Xiaodan,  King & Wood’s International Litigation & Arbitration Group.

 

Continue Reading Statute of Limitations Extended for Commencing Arbitration in Labor Disputes

The massive May 12, 2008 Wenchuan earthquake caused heavy property damage and saddening losses of life in the Chinese Providences of Sichuan, Shanxi, and Gansu. In order to support the earthquake relief and reconstruction effort, the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation has implemented post disaster tax deductions and exemptions. These relief measures impact affected individuals or enterprises, and also donations toward the relief effort. The most significant tax relief measures were announced in the “Notice on Implementing the Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Tax Policies”(Notice 62). The taxes covered in the Notice included: enterprise income tax, individual income tax, house property tax, resource tax, stamp tax, urban land use tax, vehicle and vessel use tax, import tax.
 

By Zhang Yu, Wang Xiujuan, Chengdu Office of King & Wood, FDI

 

Continue Reading Tax Relief Policy in Post-Disaster Areas

Two sets of new measures have been issued in June 2008 (namely Measures for the Administration of Prohibited and Restricted Technology Import and Measures for the Administration of Import and Export Contracts Registration) which are likely to have a material, practical affect upon technology licenses and transfers to and from China. In November 2007, the Ministry of Commerce updated the Category of Prohibited and Restricted Technology Import.

The measures are a mix of devolution (i.e. the regulations delegate responsibility down to regional Bureaux of Commerce); increased regulation and supervision on the one hand but relaxation in other regards.

By Mark Schaub, Partner Shanghai Office of King & Wood，FDI   

 

Continue Reading New Technology Import Regulations May Cause Headaches for the Unprepared

作者：程世刚律师，金杜律师事务所争议解决组（国内诉讼部）

司法实践中，因逾期付款时的债务人违约责任约定不明而常发生争议。债权人在债务人逾期付款时可以主张逾期付款违约金，但就逾期付款违约金计算标准理解不一。不同当事人主张的逾期付款违约金计算标准不同，不同法院采取的裁判准则也不一致，导致对该问题的认识及做法混乱。现就上述问题进行简要阐述。

Continue Reading 关于违约金计算标准的法律问题

By::Cheng Shigang, Associate in King & Wood’s Domestic Litigation and Arbitration Practice

Unclear provisions have frequently caused liability disputes for late payment damages. Clearly a non-breaching party may claim damages for late payment. Yet, opposing parties have often advanced differing methods for calculating damages depending on which method provides a more favorable outcome. In the past, courts also proposed differing principles for deciding cases. This lack of uniformity often led to confusion.

 

 

Continue Reading Calculating Late Payment Breach Damages

Successfully handling rejection reviews, based on a prior similar mark, in the past has proven difficult.  Rather than simply giving up registration of an important trademark, recent China Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) decisions indicate that an effective alternative for applicants is trying to reach a co-existence agreement with the owner of the cited mark.  If there is a slight difference between the preliminarily rejected trademark and the cited mark, and the marks do not cover identical goods or services, a co-existence agreement could become “a must” for overcoming a preliminary official rejection.

Recently we received a favorable decision for a client from the TRAB on a trademark rejection review. Since the rejected trademark and the cited mark differed only in one of ten letters and the two marks also covered similar goods, we expected the board to reaffirm the previous rejection based on Chinese trademark examination criteria. The obvious deciding factor resulting in a favorable review was the Co-existence Agreement entered into by our client with the owner of the cited mark. The co-existence agreement in essence consented to the registration and use of the trademark by our client in China.

Written by Zhu Fangjin, Associate, Trademark Group