AboutMichael A. Zakkour Expertise I can answer questions about manufacturing and sourcing products in China, including design, engineering, quality control, factory auditing, packaging, shipping and customs clearance.
I can also answer questions about Chinese culture, cross-cultural training and understanding, China business culture and etiquette.
I can also answer questions about developing branding and marketing and sales plans for your off the shelf or OEM products.
Experience President of China BrightStar, LLC a Sino-American manufacturing, sourcing and consulting company. Offices and factories in Beijing, Guangzhou, Ningbo and New York.
Organizations China Institute
Asia Scoiety
Publications National magazines and newspapers.
Education/Credentials B.A. in Communications
B.A. in Marketing
Seton Hall University, South Orange New Jersey
Awards and Honors Guest lecturer at Wharton School of Business at UPENN, Broad School of Business at Michigan State University, New York University's Stern School of Business
Past/Present Clients JC Penney, Philip Morris, Wal-Mart and a host of small, mid size and Fortune 1000 companies.
Question My questions is from a previous conversation that was not finished.
I am starting a clothing line and having my garments made in China and Hong Kong. I know the importance of selecting a quality manufacture, but what I would like to know is how to go about building a legal confidentiality form for my manufactures to abide by, and also protecting my designs, samples and all other materials I submit to them. If large corporations (Nike, LV, Gucci, etc.) can not stop China manufacturers from stealing their designs is a legal agreement from my start up company even worth the trouble? Also, if the agreement is broken, is going through the international legal system even worth the money, time, and trouble.
In my research, I have noticed that many manufacturers also design their own clothes to sell to customers. My main concern is that they could steal my designs. Help.
Answer Hello and thanks for writing. This is a very good question.
The truth is that there is no way to guarentee intellectual property rights for most products being made overseas, this is especially true of garments.
The BEST protection you can have is to copyright your designs in the US and be vigilant in making sure that if you are copied you shut down anyone (through a lawyer) in the US who is selling your pirated goods.
The BEST protection you can get in China is to engage with a sourcing/agent company to work on your behalf in China. This will ensure that through people, monitoring and influence on the ground the chances of you being copied will go down dramatically as opposed to you dealing with Chinese manufacturers yourself.
Best,
Michael
Michael A. Zakkour
Managing Director
China BrightStar, LLC
michael@chinabrightstar.com
