Practice Areas
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Packaging and Labeling
LEHMAN, LEE & XU has been actively involved in all aspects of advising on China related packaging administrative and legal issues concerning the technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. LEHMAN, LEE & XU has also advised on administrative, intellectual property, and legal issues concerning design, evaluation, and production of packages in China.
We advise on China administrative, IP, and legal issues concerning our client's coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use. In China, and in other countries where our clients operate, packaging is integrated into governmental, commercial, institutional, industrial, and personal use. We have advised on package labeling in Chinese and English as to our client's concerns regarding any written, electronic, or graphic communications on their packaging or on any separate but associated label.
LEHMAN, LEE & XU understands that many types of symbols for package labeling are nationally and internationally standardized. For consumer packaging, symbols exist for such things as product certifications, trademarks, and proof of purchase. In China and abroad we advise regarding those requirements and symbols, which exist to communicate aspects of consumer use and safety.
LEHMAN, LEE & XU has advised on China issues as to Bar codes, Universal Products Codes, RFID labels and country of origin labeling, QR Codes and similar matrix barcodes as well as packaging that has visible registration marks and other printing calibration/troubleshooting cues.
We have advised in China as to the labeling of our client's shipments of hazardous materials and dangerous goods. This necessitates special information and symbols (labels and placards), as required by UN and China. Specifically in China, this contains explicit carrier requirements. We advise on China transport packages, which contain standardized symbols to communicate handling needs.
LEHMAN, LEE & XU has advised clients on package development considerations as they relate to China. China is the "workshop of the world" and package design and development are an integral part of the new product development process. We also understand and advise on the issues regarding the development of a package (or component) as a separate process, which must be linked closely with the product to be packaged. We have advised from the concept stage as package design starts with the identification of all the requirements: structural design, marketing shelf life, logistics, assurance, legal requirements, regulatory requirements, graphic design, and even end-use. We have been involved in client's design criteria, performance (specified by package testing), completion time targets, resource management, and cost constraints. We have worked with clients on China issues of Package design processes which have employed rapid prototyping, computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing and document automation.
LEHMAN, LEE & XU has advised on types of products, whereby the design process involves detailed regulatory requirements for the package. We work with packing engineers to collectively verify that the completed package will keep the product safe for its intended shelf life, under Chinese regulations with normal usage. In China packaging processes, labeling, distribution, and sale need to be validated to comply with Chinese regulations and the China consumer protection laws, policies, and circulars complaint.
LEHMAN, LEE & XU has advised even where the objectives of package development seem contradictory. For example, regulations for an over-the-counter drug to be exported abroad from China might require the package to be tamper-proof and child resistant. These intentionally make the package difficult to open. The intended consumer, however, might be handicapped or elderly and be unable to readily open the package. Meeting all goals is a challenge and we have advised on these matters.
LEHMAN, LEE & XU has worked as legal advisers on package design directly with the company as well as licensing firms, legal firms, external packing engineering firms, independent contractors, consultants, vendor evaluation firms, independent laboratories, and contract packagers. We have been involved at the very beginning of the process and throughout the project planning and project management methodology required with package design, labeling, and development programs. LEHMAN, LEE & XU has worked with clients to produce effective quality management systems with requisite verification and validation protocols which are mandatory for certain types of packaging, under Chinese laws, policies, and regulations.
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