What is OEM? Short for Original Equipment Manufacturer, it is an acronym you might be familiar with if you get your products manufactured by another company, possibly in another country such as China, for example. By its basic definition, an OEM is a manufacturer that specializes in making a particular product or part for another company that provides it with the design and specifications. An OEM part therefore is manufactured to order.
中国是世界上最大的制造商,其职位已担任11年。它也是世界上最大的汽车制造商。它在一年中生产的车辆比美国,欧洲和日本的合并更多全球生产的30%。The success of China’s automotive industry rests largely on the performance of its OEMs. China’s auto parts industry isestimatedto be worth $550 billion. This is just one example of how China is a specialist when it comes to OEM products.
In this piece, we take an in-depth look at OEMs, how they work and how you can do business with one, especially in China. Read on to know:
什么是OEM?
与OEM合作的好处和挑战
What to watch out for when working with OEM China
什么是OEM,它如何工作?
To fully understand what an OEM is, we need to go beyond the simple definition provided above. AnOEM生产商品not for retailers but for another company, which sells these goods under its own brand. This explains the origin of the term OEM, which is said to come from the Dutch phrase “onder eigen merk”, loosely translated as “under own brand”. The company that buys an OEM product is called a “value-added reseller” (VAR). Usually, it improves the product or component or adds more components to it, thereby adding value to it before selling it.
快速地:Being a specialist, an OEM can fulfil large orders in a short amount of time. This ensures your final product reaches the market that much faster.
灵活性:By leaving the manufacturing to an OEM, you can focus on other areas of your business, especially research and development (R&D). Do not forget, an OEM is just the manufacturer. It only produces goods you have designed and conducted market research for. Hence, time spent on R&D is time well spent.
That said, buying an OEM product can be challenging if you are not careful. Here is what can go wrong:
Risk to intellectual property:When working with a China OEM, one of the risks you open yourself up to is compromising your intellectual property (IP), such as trademarks, design patents and copyrights. China is a first-to-file country, which means IP rights are awarded to those who register them first. So, your OEM product might bear a trademark you own in your country or in the country where you intend to export that product. But a domestic company might have registered the same trademark in China and might claim trademark infringement, leading to your product being detained by Chinese customs. There have been several备受瞩目的商标侵权案件涉及中国的OEM。并随着中国法院解释该国的法律矛盾的方式在这些情况下,建议您遵循步骤避免类似情况。
缺乏能见度:While you might know your OEM well, you might not know their suppliers down the supply chain. Chinese manufacturers are not known to freely give out information of any kind, including details about their suppliers. If the OEM changes suppliers somewhere down the line without your knowledge, the resultant change (for example, in the raw materials used) could seriously impact the quality of your goods.
1。Protect your IP:中国仅承认在当地注册的商标。加上它的第一到文件系统,如果您打算在那里制造,在该国家注册商标非常重要。您可以通过China Trademark Office或世界知识产权组织(在后一种情况下,您必须从当前注册商标的国家申请)。没有本地注册商标的中国制造业使您对:
Having your goods blocked by Chinese customs, which does not permit the export of goods that infringe upon IP registered by others.
即使可能是伪造商品的擅自占地者和卖方,侵权诉讼也是在中国拥有相同商标的公司。
Your Chinese OEM registering your trademark in their name and threatening you with a lawsuit if you attempt to switch to another OEM.
在中国注册商标时,请记住一些事情:
中国独特的子分类系统- 虽然该国接受国际商品和服务分类,以注册1957年建立的商标不错的协议,它根据产品的功能,包括功能,用法和原材料将类分为子类。例如,25级includes clothing, footwear and headwear. But under Class 25 in the中国系统,靴子,凉鞋和运动鞋属于不同的子类。重要的是要找到合适的子类以注册您的产品。
2。Negotiate an airtight contract:使其全面,涵盖从产品设计,规格,原材料和设备选择,生产截止日期,包装和质量控制程序到品牌,定价,合同持续时间以及介于两者之间的所有内容。这将为您节省很多法律麻烦。请记住,仅签署采购订单还不够好。协商密封合同,特别注意以下方面:
NNN agreement– Make your China OEM signs an NNN agreement, where NNN stands for “non-use”, “non-disclosure” and “non-circumvention”. This means the manufacturer agrees to, a) not use your product/design/concept in a way that makes them your competitor, b) not disclose information about your product/design to a third party, and c) not sell your product at a lower price. An NNN agreement helps protect your IP in a foreign country.
In conclusion, outsourcing to an OEM in China has many advantages – high quality products at low costs and the satisfaction of working with experts being just a few. However, do not forget to take the necessary precaution of protecting your trademarks in that country.