This week, the United States and China continued to take action on commitments made during the leaders’ meeting in October.
The digitization of business functions is not a new phenomenon, particularly in developed economies. However, the adoption of technology for HR and payroll processes in developing countries such as China is far less common. Arguably, it is in these countries where such IT solutions are the most needed, and could have the greatest transformative effect on business operations. Although China is rapidly developing into a mature economy, the HR and payroll processes of many companies operating in the country are still paper-based or recorded on rudimentary Excel spreadsheets.
Chinese regulations on tendering and bidding practices published by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in July are a promising sign for US pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers that government procurement behavior will be better regulated to guarantee consideration of quality alongside price. However, true improvement for the industry will require regulators to faithfully implement the law and refrain from unofficial practices such as local favoritism, which sometimes plague procurement processes.
Trademark squatting is a form of intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement that is especially rampant in China. US firms are typically more vulnerable to trademark squatting in China because unlike the US, China follows the ‘first to file’ system rather than the ‘first to use’. US firms are often under the wrong assumption that merely by registering their trademarks in the US, they will be recognized in China as well. However, the Chinese system does not recognize trademarks registered in other jurisdictions and will grant protection only to those who file first in China, regardless of the use or intent to use.
