Bearston: "...the Fellowes saga. Applied in the current context, I am curious what one might think the future holds if already strained relations continue farther south politically between the east and the west"

What a fascinating story, Bearston.  The picture painted makes it look like Fellowes was completely at the mercy of whatever its Chinese partner decided to do and its partner did everything for its own advantage and against the best interest of its western partner in the JV with the result that the JV was destroyed.  

Dan Harris, the attorney and author of the article linked by Bearston in his Agoracom Off Topic post, presented lots of questions that were not answered to his satisfaction regarding the Fellowes JV fiasco, but I suspect it all boils down to how carefully the legal language is composed at the time the JV is formed in respect to the twists and turns of the Chinese legal system, particularly in regard to the protection of Intellectual Property owned by the non-Chinese partner is such a JV on the first part and on the second part the issue is just how far will the Chinese legal system go in protection of the agrieved party to a JV under that kind of strain as far as the non-Chinese partner to the JV is concerned?

On the face of the infomation presented in the Dan Harris article it would appear that what Fellowes received out of the contentious destruction of the JV amounted to what can best be summarized as "the short end of the stick".

Their entire investment in the JV turned out to be a disaster.  That isn't to imply or impune that the Sanan-POET JV will undergo at some time in the future a similar dismal outcome, however an overused phrase does come to mind after reading about the experience of Fellowes:

Those who ignore the past are condemned to repeat it.  

Hopefully the attorneys utilized by POET Technologies who formulated the present Sanan-POET Technologies JV were the tops in their field and experienced at all of the twists and turns of the Chinese legal system so that the best possible incorporation documents were finalized in creation of the JV.

And if for any reason our documents of incorporation are less than equally fair to both parties of the JV then should "already strained relations continue farther south" at some point in the future between China and the West perhaps we as POET investors, those of us south of the Canadian border, might take some refuge in the opportunity to repeat the "Plan" that Fellowes attempted back in that era of 2011-2012.

"To counter this, Fellowes has mounted a Congressional letter writing campaign, but this has borne no fruit."

Yeah, we could, if needed, all write our Congressmen and file a written complaint.  President Xi would surely tremble at the force of such a campaign, would he not?

Speaking of writing letters as a tool to try and ameliorate a bad Western-Chinese JV situation, this one being a U.S. company-Chinese company JV, maybe going up the food chain might help generate a greater chance of compensation should a JV involving China and the West turn sour, eh?

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin wrote a letter in 2011 to the then U.S. Secretary of Commerce about the predicament Fellowes found itself in with its Chinese JV "partner" and that letter has some interesting revelations about the controversy that provide a window into the past and hopefully a window that doesn't have the slightest bearing on the future for the present Sanan-POET JV, hopefully:

Press Release | Press Releases | Newsroom | U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois (senate.gov)

What was the timeline for the Fellowes fiasco, eh?

Fellowes apparently announced its new JV in China around 31 December 2006 or 1 January 2007 and within the span of less than 5 years it moved forward to filing its complaint of losing IP and over $100 Million dollars on its China JV excursion.

The good news is that Fellowes is still in operation and has weathered the storm of its China JV experience, but Fellowes was a huge company already when it was bit in the butt for its excursion into the "Middle Kingdom" and the size of the company at that time allowed it to withstand one of the unkindest blows of all.  In comparison, and at the present time here in 2023, the size of POET Technologies brings to mind, at least to my mind anyway, that famous quote of a years ago Vice Presidential debate melodrama that transpired on October 5, 1988, at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska between Vice President candidates Senator Lloyd Bentsen and Senator Dan Quayle.  During that televised debate Senator Quayle proclaimed:

"I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." 

To which Senator Bentsen countered his now famous line:  "Senator, you're  no Jack Kennedy!"

Well, as much money and years I have invested in POET Technolgies and as much as I need POET to succeed in every way: "POET, you're no Fellowes Brands size company!" 

Taking a hit commensurate with the one Fellowes endured in 2011 is not within the "doable" by 2023 POET Technolgies should that situation ever occur.

Having a North American manufacturing base would provide at least some insurance against the type of debacle that Fellowes experienced in 2011.

Thanks, Bearston, for posting! 

You and I are probably the total circumspect population of POET investors concerned about this issue.  Make that three of us.  Tpowers would also fit into our very small group of circumspectors.  I can only hope that all of that circumspection comes to time totally wasted as the Sanan-POET Technologies JV gallups forth into extreme financial  success for all investors East and West. 

And to quote Admiral Farragut:  "Damn the torpedoes!  Full Speed Ahead!"  Eh?

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