How do you keep your IP protected in a land where virtually everything is copied? This can be seemingly impossible. You can walk down any street in China and buy DVD’s of movies that have not even hit the big screen yet. If such large companies are having problems how can you succeed where they have not?

Well this is a multiple part answer. The first step is to find a reputable supplier. Yes, the do exist in China. The trick is to find them. So now you have some problems: you don’t speak Chinese, you can’t understand the supplier’s broken English website, and they all look the same from your computer.

So now that you know what to do you need to go out and do it. Find a good agent that will represent your interests and only your interests in Sourcing. The first step is to find a sourcing agent that is willing to disclose the true source of the product to you and are willing to put you in contact with the manufacturer directly.

Then pay your agent for finding the factories but do not let them get a percentage of your order. From there make sure that you yourself or your agent does an audit of the factory. Get to know your supplier before you sign a contract with them. See for yourself if they really can produce your quality of products and at the volume that you need. Nothing beats seeing it yourself!

From there make sure that you get a bullet proof contract with them in English. Make sure that the contract says the manufacturer cannot sell your designs/products to anyone else at anytime and that you now and forever will own the designs, patents, trademarks, and registrations of those products

One other bit of advice on a contract is. Do not ever sign a Chinese contract that you cannot understand. If the factory wants your business they will find a way to interpret your English contract. Remember, shoot high. After all, your version of the contract is really a perfect-world wish-list. Negotiate from there but never start low on what you want; going up is always harder than going down.

So now you have your contract with a factory and a few months later you are shocked. You thought you found a good factory, but you just saw your product on a shelf of a store marketed under a different brand. First thing is first, calm down and make a plan on how to deal with this situation.

First thing that you can do call the company and issue them a cease and desist order and state any applicable patents or trademarks you may have on the item. Secondly, you can have your agent try to locate the factory they are using. If you are successful there then you can take that factory information along with all of your supporting patent or trademark documents to the Chinese consulate in your country and issue a formal complaint about the factory.

Then let things run their course, while China is slow to react to problems it does react. Eventually there will be a person from a local government in the area visit the factory. Depending on the connections that the factory has with the local government will ultimately affect the outcome of the solution or the lack of a solution.

If you are successful this way, congratulations!!! If not, then your last chance is the Chinese court system. However, I will warn you now, even if you do get a judgment against them it will be much harder getting that judgment enforced.
So now you say well how do stop it from happening in the first place. The short answer to this is; it is very difficult. Remember this is China, and copyrights, patents, and trademarks mean very little to the Chinese factory owners. The best thing that you can do is brand and market your product better than your competitors are. Make new innovative improvements to your product, and most importantly stay ahead of you competition in sales with good service and superior supply chain management.