Fangda Partners
Firm overview:
Fangda Partners is a heavyweight firm in China’s legal market, with around 800 lawyers across seven offices and a reputation for top quality service. Leading Chinese and international businesses select Fangda for its cross-border capabilities and track record of success in disputes.
Litigation is the firm’s forte, and it has achieved a number of notable legislative precedents in the country. Nokia, Sony, L’Oréal, Valeo and InterDigital are among the clients that have sought Fangda’s representation in contentious patent matters. The team has significant expertise in FRAND litigation, and has acted for numerous technology companies in standard-essential patent (SEP) and antitrust disputes.
Team overview:
Beijing partner Alexandra Yang is among the best IP litigators in the country. She has taken more than 30 cases to trial in the Supreme Court and acted in a number of highly significant matters including Apple v Qualcomm, Apple v Ericsson, Apple v Unwired Planet, Vivo v Nokia, and Pfizer v CNIPA.
Another preeminent litigator at the firm, Fang Qi has represented leading companies in business-critical disputes. Qi has particular experience with clients in the electronics, telecoms, new energy, pharmaceutical, consumer goods and manufacturing industries.
Other key team members include Muran Sun, whose expertise lies in IP litigation and licensing, as well as SEP and competition law disputes. Her work highlights include representing Oppo in its FRAND royalty determination proceeding in China concerning SEP licensing disputes with Nokia.
Key matters:
- Represented Microsoft affiliate in patent infringement dispute
Fangda’s IP team secured a victory for a Microsoft affiliate in a patent infringement dispute filed by a US non-practising entity (NPE) before the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court. The court issued a first-instance judgment recognising that the Microsoft affiliate did not infringe the asserted patent and upheld its prior art defence. The decision was rare in terms of its support of a prior art defence based on public use of second-hand devices.
Alexandra Yang led Fangda’s team, which also included Christine Dong, Jennifer Guan, Ryan Gu, Xiaopeng Zhu, Edward Zhou and Jiawei Li.
- Oppo: 5G patent cross-licence agreement with Nokia
Fangda represented Oppo in its well-publicised legal proceedings with Nokia, which resulted in the companies announcing a 5G patent cross-licence in January 2024.
The team was led by James Hu, and included Tingting Liao, Muran Sun and Kaimai Pan.
- Huizhou Huahong New Materials: Supreme People’s Court patent case
The team secured a favourable judgment from the Supreme People’s Court on behalf of client Huizhou Huahong New Materials, which reversed trial court judgments of both the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and Beijing Intellectual Property Court. The decision reversed the previous judgments which had deemed the patent to lack inventiveness.
Wen Zou led the team, which included Xiaoxiong Xie.
Clients:
Huizhou Huahong New Materials, Microsoft affiliate, Oppo
