Office Opening Establishes Trademark Agency
ATLANTA and BEIJING, Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP announced today that it has opened an office in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Kilpatrick Townsend's Beijing office has a license to operate as a trademark agency and will primarily serve the strategic client needs of U.S. and European-based brands in the China market, a market that is critical in global commerce.
The office, which opened January 1, 2019, is located in the Chaoyang District of Beijing.
Christopher Woods, a co-leader of Kilpatrick Townsend's Asia Practice Team and head of the China Brands Practice, will serve as the Beijing Office Managing Partner. Shuang Yu, Associate, and Qunfan Chen, Trademark Agent, will also serve as senior members of the office.
"Kilpatrick Townsend's internationally recognized Intellectual Property Department, which was recently named the 2019 U.S. News Best Lawyers-Best Law Firm's IP Litigation Firm of Year, is committed to expanding its presence in this area of the world," said Henry Walker, Kilpatrick Townsend Chair. "The Beijing office, which will primarily focus on our long-established and highly regarded China Brands Practice, creates an outstanding opportunity for growth as it represents U.S. brand owners in the creation, protection, exploitation, and enforcement of their trademarks in China. A presence here, along with our offices in Shanghai and Tokyo, provides direct access to the region's key markets, as well as supporting the U.S. intellectual property needs of our growing client base in China."
"Kilpatrick has long represented the interests of U.S. brand owners in China. But today, while U.S. brand owners continue to expand their reach in the vibrant China market, it is clear that China brand owners are now emerging as a force on the world stage, especially in the U.S.," said Christopher Woods. "Developing relationships with China brand owners is an excellent opportunity to continue growing the China Brands Practice. With the Beijing office, we are enhancing our trademark presence in China which is a key factor to successfully developing these relationships."
Mr. Woods has over 30 years of experience representing and counseling U.S. and European clients who have business interests or commercial disputes relating to intellectual property in China and the surrounding area, and in acting for Asia-based clients with interests and disputes in the U.S. and Europe. He lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years as a locally-admitted IP attorney. Mr. Woods represented many of the world's top technology companies in defense of their patents and trade secrets, and several of the world's top 10 brand owners in dispute resolution matters throughout the region.
Mr. Woods also represented a number of significant companies in commercial transactions such as the acquisition or licensing of IP rights, and the analysis of a broad range of IP rights when listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He co-authored a popular textbook in the early days of the opening up of the China market entitled Technology Transfer in the PRC.
Mr. Woods continues to represent top 10 global brand owners in Greater China, now perhaps the world's strongest market for consumer goods. He is involved in the creation, protection and exploitation of intellectual property rights in many industries and works with clients who are new to the China market and those who have a well-developed presence in the market. Although Mr. Woods' primary focus is on dispute resolution (anti-counterfeiting, IP infringement and licensing disputes) and particularly on international arbitration between foreign corporations and Chinese entities, he also works on the IP aspects of commercial and corporate transactions, and a growing focus on public procurement issues.
In addition to practicing as a Hong Kong and New York attorney, Mr. Woods is also licensed to practice in the United Kingdom. As part of his global practice he is therefore able to work with a growing number of Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong corporations as they expand their businesses and encounter disputes in Europe and the U.S.
Mr. Woods has been recognized repeatedly as one of the top 20 trademark lawyers in the U.S. by World Trademark Review which also noted that "Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is a premier trademark group in the United States with an incredible bench including experienced professionals with deep knowledge of all relevant substantive areas." He has been recognized several times by: AsiaLaw as a Leading Lawyer in Asia; by the Euromoney Guide to the World's Leading Trademark Practitioners, by The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers; by the International Who's Who of Trademark Lawyers; and by the LegalMedia Group China Guide. Mr. Woods has been named an "IP Star" in 2018 and the five years immediately preceding by Managing Intellectual Property magazine.
For more information about Kilpatrick Townsend, please visit: www.kilpatricktownsend.com.
Follow the firm on Twitter: @KTS_Law.
