The purpose of this section is not to give legal advice but rather to analyze legal issues from a business perspective.  This perspective is hard to come by from legal practitioners because they tend view their duty to you solely as protecting your legal interests. 

What happens when negotiating a contract worth a nominal $5,000 your lawyer wants to consider every contingency in a twenty page document?  Can you limit their civil liability to you for malpractice to get what you want? (Generally no) Is a patent always preferable for a new invention when the inventor has limited capital?  You will probably get a different answer here than a patent attorney will give you.

*I am not an attorney although I will be taking the Illinois Bar in July of this year.  Nothing here should be taken as legal advice either generally or specific to your circumstance.  These are only my opinions on legal issues as they relate to business. The laws of every state treat the general principles of law differently so you should get a local attorney's opinion  before you make any final decision affecting your rights.  And remember that various statutes limit the time in which you can recover for a harm.

Retailers considering importing goods from China have the issue of product quality to consider.  Long assumed to be producers of inferior goods, China has made great strides in the last decade to upgrade its image.  Even so, importers who receive inferior products need assurance that their rights can be vindicated.  They can, but not in the same way they might in the U.S. legal system.

Have you thought of a new concept?  Invented something that could be big?  You are probably wondering if it is worth getting a patent.  It is not always worth using your limited investment capital on intellectual property when it means you cannot develop and market the product properly.