Liu Shen & Associates

Firm overview:

One of the largest intellectual property law firms in China, Liu Shen & Associates is also up there with the best in terms of quality. The firm provides patent prosecution and full-range IP-related legal services including patent infringement/administrative litigation. Increasingly, the team’s work has extended to patent transfer and licensing, due diligence investigating and related matters in emerging fields such as telecoms, artificial intelligence and biomedicine.

Liu Shen is often seen acting for parties in cases selected by the Supreme People’s Court and local courts as top representative matters. The firm has a deep bench of technical expertise covering the core areas of mechanics, electronics, telecoms, chemistry, and biomedicine.

Team overview:

Liu Shen has over 500 staff, including more than 200 patent attorneys, nearly 100 attorneys-at-law, and about 80 double-qualified attorneys.

President of the firm Allen Tao is a top-tier lawyer and a revered opponent in patent disputes. Tao has represented numerous multinationals in IP litigation in China, and has had a substantial practice in patent prosecution/licensing.

A name to know at the firm is partner Jun Qiu, a patent attorney and attorney-at-law whose practice covers both prosecution and litigation. Qiu is most recognised for his work in dispute resolution, and he has led patent litigations for high-profile clients resulting in substantial damages.

A specialist in technical areas including telecoms, computer science and AI, partner Xiaoning Yu is “good in opposition”, a peer acknowledges. He is “down-to-earth, with a very solid and good client base” and one of the perhaps lesser known but highly adept partners at the firm.

Partner and patent attorney Stephen Zou provided “efficient and effective IP due diligence” for a number of business development projects, a Japanese multinational client says. He also showed “great expertise in our patent enforcement project and achieved great success”, the client adds.