24 Asian Legal Business | December 2024 Another emerging trend relates to the growing emphasis on protecting trade secrets, particularly technical secrets. “Judicial and administrative authorities have ramped up efforts to combat criminal violations of trade secrets, fostering a more favorable business and innovation environment,” Li adds. A second trend observed by lawyers is the rising demand for cross-border IP protection due to the globalization of business operations and an increase in international transactions. Zeng Tao, partner at Hansheng Law Offices, notes a surge in demand for legal services related to IP crimes involving Chinese companies operating overseas. “As outbound business grows, the study of IP crime in both theory and practice has gained attention. In practice, IP crimes are increasingly shifting from offline to online and from domestic to international. Theoretically, research on the integration of civil and criminal legislation for IP crimes is deepening, and civilcriminal joint litigation mechanisms are being explored in judicial practice,” he explains. Zeng illustrates this with cases his team handled: “For example, the Pandabuy crossborder e-commerce platform IP crime case involved damages of 3 billion yuan, and another case involving the theft of technical secrets from a Fortune 500 company exceeded 1 billion yuan in damages. These cases highlight China’s commitment to high-level IP protection and significantly enhanced our team’s expertise in handling cross-border and international IP crime cases.” The evolving economic and social environment has also introduced new IP challenges. Fu Tongjie, partner at Chang Tsi & Partners, points out the impact of changes in the business environment. “China has been continuously refining and adjusting its IP protection mechanisms, issuing detailed guidelines to create a favorable environment for market-driven economic growth,” Fu notes. Over the past year, Fu’s team dealt with several significant IP disputes that highlight the evolving landscape of IP protection in China. In Wuxi, they handled a case involving criminalcivil joint litigation for IP violations, reflecting the increasing integration of legal mechanisms in addressing such disputes. In Changshu, they successfully represented a client in a trademark infringement and unfair competition case, where the court issued a groundbreaking ruling barring the defendant from applying for trademarks identical or similar to the plaintiff’s. Another prominent case in Beijing’s Haidian Court resulted in the defendant being ordered to pay RMB 5 million yuan in damages for trademark infringement. These cases demonstrate the courts’ innovative strategies and strengthened commitment to safeguarding IP rights. Strengthening expertise, shaping the future As competition intensifies in the legal industry, maintaining a competitive edge has become a key focus for practitioners. For the top lawyers recognized in the IP field, the answer lies in a “Maintaining an edge involves not only serving existing clients but also identifying and supporting new ones. To better serve clients, several qualities are crucial: first, the ability to keep learning and remain curious about emerging fields; second, a business-oriented mindset when offering legal advice, ensuring it aligns with the client’s commercial environment; and third, good team management capability.” — Fu Tongjie, Chang Tsi & Partners “知识产权律师想要保持自身优势，除了要服务好存量客户，还要挖掘增量客户。要想更好地服务 客户，我的感触是首先要有持续学习的能力，保持好奇心，关注新兴领域；二是在给客户提供法律 建议的时候，一定要有商业思维，考虑客户面临的商业环境；三是提高团队管理能力，带出一支优 秀队伍。” — 付同杰，铸成律师事务所 2024 ALB China Top 15 IP Lawyers
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