A. T. Kearney: US Seen as Best for Foreign Direct Investment
Last week, global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney released its 2013 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index. The major surprise: For the first time in more than a decade, senior executives in large companies chose the US as the most favorable place to make foreign direct investment (FDI).
According to Kearney, the US rose to the top for the following reasons:
- After downturn-induced cutbacks, companies are investing in productivity-enhancing tools and equipment.
- The dollar has weakened, while wages in developing countries have risen.
- Most notably, China slipped to second place because increasing labor costs raise questions about the long-term attractiveness of China’s development model.
Watch Out for Asian Domain Name Scams!
Twice within the past 24 hours, a client has contacted me with concerns about trademark protection. In each instance, the concerns were caused by an e-mail that offered specified domain names in Asia. I will describe the e-mails in detail so you will know to be on guard if you receive anything similar:
- The subject line includes terms such as “copyright” or “intellectual property.”
- The text indicates that the sending company, an Internet domain registrar located in Asia, has received a request to register domain names with country codes in Asia that are similar to a “trademark” (more precisely, a domain name) that you own. For example, if you own <universalwidgets.com>, the e-mail might state that there are requests to register <universalwidgets.cn> and <universalwidgets.asia>.
- The e-mail then offers you an opportunity to protect your trademark by buying the Asian domain names yourself, rather than letting them be purchased by the third party. However, to take advantage of this opportunity, you must act quickly.
- The individual ostensibly sending the e-mail has an Americanized name, such as “John Zhou” or “Adam Hao”.
