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Silver - Individuals: prosecution
Making no concessions on work quality, despite its moderate scale, IP March is a Beijing-based boutique that prides itself on maintaining the highest standard of work. The dynamic patent group – most of which are equipped with either industrial or in-house IP experience – boasts superb language capability and command of technical expertise. Household names such as Audi, Whirlpool, Volkswagen and Porsche have all placed full confidence in its patent prosecution capability. Leading the outfit forward is managing partner Stephen Yang, who has long been recognised as the leading IP expert in China.
Stephen Yang is a Chinese patent attorney and managing partner of IP March, a boutique IP law firm in China. His practice covers patent search, drafting, prosecution, invalidation, opinion and litigation in a wide variety of technical fields, particularly mechanics, energy, electronics, software and high-tech areas. Mr Yang also has extensive experience in utility model and design patent practice.
Mr Yang began to practise patent law in 1997 and worked at a number of Chinese IP law firms in Beijing where he contributed significantly to these firms’ business growth. In addition to private practice in China, Mr Yang worked in-house in Toronto in a high-tech company where he gained an industrial perspective to his IP work. Having spent five years in Canada, Mr Yang has also gained deep insights into western culture and practice; this, combined with his superior language skills, makes him stand out from his peers and helps bridge any cultural gap by allowing smooth communication and understanding of his clients’ needs, while advising them in a way they can clearly understand. His clients, many of which are prominent industry leaders around the world, recognise the quality of Mr Yang’s services.
Mr Yang’s technical background is in mechanical and industrial engineering. He received two bachelor of engineering degrees from Tsinghua University and a master’s degree from the University of Toronto. Mr Yang is a frequent speaker at international conferences and webinars. He is also a prolific author of articles and books. In particular, Mr Yang is the main author of IP Protection in China, published by ABA Publishing in 2015. He is also a lecturer of the prestigious McGill University IP courses and created the China content for the course.
Mr Yang has been recognised multiple times by various sources as one of the leading practitioners in IP law.
IP March is a mid-size boutique firm that offers prosecution, litigation and consulting services related to IP law to domestic and overseas clients, which range from start-up companies to prestigious multinationals, many of them leaders in their respective industries.
Headquartered in Beijing, the firm employs high-calibre patent attorneys, trademark attorneys and attorneys at law with rich academic, industrial and professional experience. Many of the firm’s professionals have over 10 years of experience and are widely recognised as leading practitioners in IP law. Specifically, IP March currently has 12 partners, 35 patent attorneys, six patent engineers and eight trademark attorneys. In addition to mainland China, IP March’s services also cover the Greater China Region, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, through local agents.
Services
Patents
- Search, drafting, prosecution and re-examination
- Invalidation and administrative litigation
- Infringement litigation and administrative enforcement
- Assignment and annuities
- Technology transfer
Trademarks
- International and domestic registration, renewal, assignment and licensing
- Re-examination, cancellation, opposition, dispute and administrative litigation
- Anti-counterfeiting, infringement litigation and administrative enforcement
Copyright
- Registration and protection
Domain names
- Registration, renewal, transfer and dispute resolution
Customs protection
- Recordation and enforcement of rights at Customs
IC layout designs
- Registration of layout design of integrated circuits
Other
- Consultation and litigation related to trade secrets, trade dress and unfair competition
Technical areas
IP March’s patent attorneys work in most technical areas, including agrochemicals, mechanics, biology, pharmaceutics, medical devices, chemistry, chemical engineering, materials, metallurgy, electronics, communications, semiconductors, computer software and hardware, artificial intelligence, fintech and quantum computing.
Languages
IP March can provide services in multiple languages, including Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, German and French. In particular, a good portion of IP March attorney’s daily work is patent drafting in either Chinese or English.
Why choose IP March
- Smooth communication – In addition to in-depth understanding of Chinese laws, IP March attorneys have superior languages skills and knowledge of foreign cultures and practices, which enables them to bridge the cultural gap, precisely understand their clients’ intention and advise them in a way that the clients can clearly understand. Smooth communication clearly makes IP March stand out from other Chinese IP firms.
- Focus on professional advice – IP March focuses on value-added services instead of acting as a mailstop. Providing high-quality professional advice is IP March’s core competitive advantage. In addition, IP March takes a proactive approach to advising clients so as to avoid unnecessary costs.
- Responsiveness, care and personal attention – IP March’s clients enjoy extremely responsive service. IP March applies the utmost care and personal attention to their work. Having many attorneys who once worked in-house in the industry, IP March thinks from its clients’ standpoint and understands their needs. Dedicated account managers coordinate the internal resources at the firm.
- Most stringent quality control – Quality work is IP March’s paramount consideration. IP March applies the most stringent quality control measures known in the profession. Each and every piece of work is reviewed by a partner of the firm. IP March’s top-notch quality and service are recognised by various awards bestowed by clients.