Deacons Celebrates Fifth Anniversary of its Intellectual Property Office in Beijing

BEIJING, CHINA -�Media OutReach – 2 November 2018 – Deacons,
Hong Kong’s premier full service independent law firm, marked the fifth year anniversary
of its Intellectual Property Office in Beijing by hosting a cocktail event for
approximately 70 distinguished guests from the Beijing business community and
from government. At the event, Deacons expressed its commitment to growth in
China to meet the excellent opportunities arising from China’s improving intellectual
property protection regime and greater enforcement efforts.

Deacons Partner Annie Tsoi (fourth from left) and colleagues, officiated the opening of the Deacons (Beijing) Intellectual Property office 5th Anniversary Celebration Cocktail Reception, with honoured guests from the government, including Liu Ke (centre), Vice chairperson of Haidian District, Beijing, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

 

Deacons (Beijing) Intellectual Property Agency was founded in September
2013. It provides trademark searches, applications,
registration, opposition, and declarations of invalidity; copyright matters,
customs-related IP rights cases, and other issues connected with IP enforcement
and protection, to both Chinese and international clients.  Deacons’ IP team, which is ranked as Band 1 by
Chambers China, has one of the largest specialist IP teams in Greater China,
with 125 staff in total, of which 46 are qualified lawyers and professional
staff members. The firm works with more than half of the world’s 100 best known
and most valuable brands (as measured by Interbrand).

 

After entering China in 1986, Deacons was the first foreign law firm to secure three licensed offices in the country.
Today its Greater China team consists of 243 lawyers. In addition to its
headquarters in Hong Kong, the firm has three representative offices in
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and an Intellectual Property Agency office in
Beijing.

 

Commenting on the anniversary, Annie Tsoi, Co-Head of Deacons’ Intellectual Property Department
and Head of China IP Practice Group, said: “We are proud of the success that our IP Agency has achieved in the
past five years, and we are committed to growing the team in the coming months
and years as China continues its incredible transformation as a world economic
power.”

 

China has significantly enhanced
its Intellectual Property regime, mostly notably, establishing
three specialised IP Courts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and 15
specialised IP Tribunals across 10 provinces and two cities or municipalities
in China since 2014. In addition, a decision has been made to create an Intellectual
Property Court within the Supreme People’s Court
(SPC) to serve as a national IP appellate court. Alongside legislative change,
the country has seen greater enforcement, with patent enforcement cases and
patent disputes rising to 66,649 and 28,157 in 2017[1],
increases of 36% and 35% respectively on the preceding year.

 

In parallel, the Chinese Government has
adopted a consistent approach to supporting local companies, particularly in
the technology sector, to expand outside of China. Trademark and patent applications from
Chinese companies overseas have increased dramatically since 2014, and at a
much faster pace than any other country, including an eightfold surge in
trademark applications to 50,000 in the United States from Chinese companies, as
of 2017. Among the top 15 origins of PCT applications, China is the only
country to have recorded double-digit annual growth of 13.4%.  According to the World Intellectual Property
Organization[2], it
is estimated that China will overtake the U.S. within three years as the
largest source of applications filed under the World
Intellectual Property Organization’s Patent Cooperation Treaty.

 

Looking ahead to 2019, Annie
Tsoi observed: “China is fast becoming a major competitor on the
global stage of high-value manufacturing, and aligned with this, significant
progress has been made by the Central Government to foster stronger IP
protection as innovation sweeps the country and Chinese firms and brands expand
internationally. 

 

“The
introduction of the new e-commerce law which comes into effect on the 1^st
January 2019, the clampdown on trademark squatters, the recent opening of an
internet court in Beijing, last month’s launch of the Shanghai Trademark
Overseas Protection Office, and the Government’s continued support for local technology
companies to expand outside of China, underscore the complex and rapid change
that is underway. It is imperative that companies both large and small are
fully cognisant of how these changes might affect them and they must ensure
that they are taking adequate measures now to comply and to protect
themselves.”

 

NOTES
TO EDITORS:

 

Deacons
(Beijing) Intellectual Property Agency

 

Deacons (Beijing)
Intellectual Property Agency was founded in September 2013, under the sole
ownership of Deacons, to provide our clients with a range of intellectual
property (IP)-related services, including trademark searches, applications,
registration, opposition and declarations of invalidity, as well as IP
protection. Deacons (Beijing) works closely with the team based in Hong Kong to
offer IP consultation services, including trademark applications, IP
enforcement, commercial IP planning and strategy, and IP-related litigation.
With many years of experience, we are well placed to help our clients establish
and strengthen their overseas businesses while also assisting them with
protecting and developing their valuable IP portfolios.

 

Our
IP team is committed to providing our clients with practical insights about all
aspects of their IP needs, and offering a range of services in China, Hong Kong and
overseas.

 

https://www.deaconschinaip.com/en/

 

Deacons

 

Deacons is Hong Kong’s premier
independent firm. We provide an extensive range of legal and commercial
services to local and international corporations. With over 165 years of
experience in providing legal services, our clients are assured of the integrity
and stability of one of the region’s oldest and most respected law firms. Our
principal service areas include: Banking & Finance, Capital Markets, China
Trade & Investment, Construction, Corporate and M&A, Employment &
Pensions, Investment Funds, Insolvency & Restructuring, Insurance,
Intellectual Property, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Private Clients,
Real Estate, Regulatory and Tax.

 

https://www.deacons.com.hk/