Guide to IPR Protection in China for the OEM Industry

The term Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) designates a company that only makes a part of a product, or a subsystem, to be used in another company’s end product. By extension, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) also designates the agreement whereby one company commissions another to manufacture products according to certain specifications and to affix a trade mark on such products; the said products are delivered to the commissioner who sells them in the market under his own name. The letters “OEM” therefore designate both the manufacturer and the act of commissioning the manufacture of a finished product to a third party.