Cross-border strategies coordinated by PRC-based global counsel can enhance Chinese companies' abilities to monetize IP claims

Chinese companies with significant intellectual property (“IP”) assets continue to see their bottom lines threatened amid increased competition with the U.S. and other Western companies. This often leads to high-stakes, enterprise-threatening IP disputes spanning multiple jurisdictions worldwide.

Kobre & Kim's ongoing commitment to its mainland China presence (recently featured in Law360) is critical to its ability to effectively manage cross-border IP disputes initiated outside China by Chinese companies in industries such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and consumer goods.

An integrated team that includes local, Chinese-speaking lawyers with U.S. IP specialists offers Chinese plaintiffs and defendants embroiled in complex IP disputes outside of China several advantages:

Coordinated Global Campaigns

Global companies will likely be involved in IP disputes that touch multiple jurisdictions and will, therefore, need to coordinate simultaneous proceedings in key jurisdictions. Having a local team with language capabilities to oversee the strategy of a complex multi-jurisdictional campaign both facilitates communications and allows for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the client and the core problem.

U.S. Plaintiff-Side Experience

Chinese claimants involved in both patent enforcement or trade secret theft disputes are increasingly choosing to bring their disputes in U.S. forums, taking advantage of broader discovery, powerful remedies and public proceedings. Having a team with plaintiff-side experience in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), U.S. courts, and arbitral forums around the world is essential ingredient to success.

Creative, Nontraditional Strategies

Aggressive competitor disputes in the U.S. often call for atypical, unanticipated strategies both IP and non-IP (as well as inside and outside the courtroom). From attracting media coverage as part of a pressure campaign to employing strategies normally used in traditional creditor-debtor disputes, thinking outside the box with flexible fee options can bring claimants and defendants one step closer to a favorable outcome.

Integrating local Mandarin-speaking experts with their global team allows Chinese claimants and defendants to navigate IP disputes outside of China—from patent enforcement to trade secret theft—with more effective oversight and coordination of their cross-border activities. 

About Kobre & Kim

Kobre & Kim is a conflict-free global law firm focused on disputes and investigations, often involving fraud and misconduct.

Our team:

• Offers deep experience coordinating high-stakes, cross-border IP disputes across jurisdictions, often involving assets and entities in the PRC and other Asian countries, with litigators in China, U.S., Tel Aviv, Korea, South America, EMEA and key offshore financial centers.
• Focuses on serving as special litigation counsel, avoiding conflicts that prevent other firms from taking on the large-scale litigation common in patent infringement actions and other IP disputes.
• Understands complex technology and can explain it to judges and juries - the ultimate decision-makers.