NTD Patent & Trademark Agency

Firm overview:

NTD Patent & Trademark Agency is a highly regarded law firm providing a one-stop-shop for IP protection and enforcement. The firm has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, as well as liaison offices in Silicon Valley, Tokyo and Munich.

The firm is strong across both non-contentious and contentious aspects of trademark work. NTD handles all facets of trademark prosecution and protection, including due diligence, strategic counselling and licensing.

NTD is entrusted with a significant volume of trademark work, which includes over 5,000 opposition, invalidation and review matters and over 400 IP lawsuits annually. The team has been involved in numerous high-profile trademark matters, including a recent precedent-setting case concerning infringement and virtual goods, and a milestone 2024 judgment for Wrigley in which its ‘Extra’ trademark was deemed to be well-known.

Team overview:

NTD’s team is composed of over 500 professionals and support staff, of which more than 60 are trademark attorneys.

Senior partner Christopher Shen is one of the country’s preeminent trademark lawyers, and serves as vice president of the China Trademark Association. Shen has represented many well-known Chinese and international companies in lawsuits and arbitrations over the course of his nearly 30-year career. His clients for trademark work include DuPont, Wrigley, Marriott and Iris Ohyama.

Nathan Yang is one of NTD’s top litigators. Yang focuses on trademark, unfair competition, copyright, and domain name disputes, among other matters, and many of the cases he has handled have been selected as top IP cases in China. Yang’s clients include Johnson & Johnson, Marriott, Bayer, DuPont, Dow, Sumitomo, and Huawei.

Key matters:

• Xuan Company v Qiao Company et al

NTD represented plaintiff Xuan Company in a precedent-setting case which was the first in China to establish the criteria for determining trademark infringement involving virtual and real-world goods.

In a final judgment in the second instance of the dispute, the Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court of Zhejiang Province found that the defendants had used the trademark ‘G.Patton’ on physical goods such as automobiles, and also authorised third parties to incorporate the infringing mark into virtual goods within online games through brand collaboration rights.

As well as trademark infringement, the court determined that the defendants’ false advertising constituted unfair competition. The ruling recognises that virtual vehicle assets in online games and real-world automobiles may be considered to be similar goods, breaking with the traditional boundaries of goods classes in trademark infringement determination. This reversed the first-instance ruling which concluded that virtual goods do not constitute infringement.

The court ordered the defendants to pay RMB 1 million (approximately $140,000). Nathan Yang and Yan Zhang led the team for NTD.

• Bayer Healthcare: Success in trademark infringement and unfair competition case

The team at NTD won a first-instance judgment on behalf of client Bayer Healthcare regarding its ‘Kangwang’ trademark at the Ningbo Intermediate People’s Court of Zhejiang Province. The defendant, a Hangzhou company, used a corporate name and domain name highly similar to Bayer’s ‘Kangwang’ trademark, and promoted hair care products with the logo on online platforms including WeChat and Douyin. It also sold hair and scalp care products with the ‘Kangwang’ logo in retail stores.

Having ruled that the defendants’ acts constituted trademark infringement and unfair competition, the court awarded damages of RMB 1.8 million (approximately $250,000). Lily Fu and Steve Liu represented Bayer in the matter.

• Victory for global sports brand in trademark infringement case

NTD secured a victory in a trademark infringement lawsuit for a global sports brand. The fact that the defendant’s marks shared only initial letters with the client’s registered trademarks presented a challenge for the team, which conducted a comprehensive search and evidence collection for bad faith imitation.

The team also argued that the client’s marks were well known and that consumers’ level of attention was generally low, increasing the risk of confusion.

The Beijing Haidian District Court awarded the requested damages of RMB 1 million (approximately $140,000). Partner Jenny Huang and Da Liu handled the case.

Clients:

Bayer Healthcare, Wrigley, Xuan Company