Dimitri Dovas (Dovas Law) and Shelley Zheng (Advance China IP) present to Midea Corporation, Guangdong, China, 20 September 2006.
As Chinese companies are increasingly pushing their own domestically designed products into the global market place, a strong interest in the particulars of U.S. and international patent laws has developed. Midea Holding Co Ltd, one of China’s largest home appliance manufacturers (expected 2006 sales volume of $6 billion) has set its sights on US shores. Recognizing the potential complications involved with introducing new products abroad, the intellectual property department at Midea sought an all-day forum with Dovas Law and Advance China IP to allow its in house counsel and engineering staff the opportunity to interactively address U.S. and international patent procedures. As recognized by the management at Midea, evaluating benefits and pitfalls from an intellectual property perspective is imperative when considering the pursuit of foreign sales.