Areas of Practice
Mr. Xie¡¯s major practice areas include intellectual property disputes, legal counsel for hi-tech companies and venture capital, as well as finance and insurance related issues. He has gained a high reputation in these areas with his solid academic background, government experience and professional dedication. In November 2008, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the first Science & Technology Law Awards from the National Office for Science & Technology Awards.
His advisory activities in the technology industry include providing long term legal services to many notable multi-national enterprises and institutions including Heinz, Rhodia, Trend Micro, Epson, Yamaha, Samsung, Panasonic Electric Works, Netcom Broadband, UFIDA Software, Midea, China National Publications Import and Export (Group) Corporation, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) and the Institute of Science and Technology Information. He has successfully represented a number of clients in important IP cases.
In the trademark field, he succeeded in having the courts determine ¡°Gome¡± a famous trademark; he successfully represented China¡¯s biggest property insurance company to retrieve the domain name ¡°PICC¡±; and he represented Danone China to manage trademark disputes with ¡°Wahaha¡±.
In the area of patent, he represented a Taiwanese company who won an appeal at Beijing High People¡¯s Court against Intel in a MPU patent infringement disputes; he represented Heinz to win a design patent infringement case; he represented a famous Chinese telecommunications manufacturer to defend a patent and copyright infringement prosecution consisting of over 100 claims lodged by Huawei; he represented Taiwan Masterkong in a design infringement case against a foreign-owned enterprise; and represented Rhodia in a patent infringement suit against a high-tech company in Tianjin.
In copyright actions, he successfully defended a famous Taiwanese finance software company against accusations of infringement at the Supreme Court; and he represented Yahoo in managing MP3 infringement disputes with international record companies.
His unfair competition cases include representing a listed company in a trade secret tort case against a Shanghai company for damages of 100 million RMB; he represented a famous electronic appliance company in disputes over company name and trademark; and represented CNNIC in an infringement of one¡¯s right of reputation case against a Chinese software manufacturer.
Mr. Xie is also actively engaged in public enterprise. He once served as counselor for the High-tech and Industrialization Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Software and Integrated Circuit Promotion Center of the Ministry of Information Industry and other government agencies, providing legal counsel on industry policy.
Working Experience
Mr. Xie began practicing as an attorney in 1998 and in 2002 founded Lifang & Partners. He is now the firm¡¯s managing partner. Previously, he worked with the Policy and Legislation Division of the former State Science Committee and former Intellectual Property Rights Conference Office of the State Council, where he participated in the drafting and revision of state intellectual property and technology legislation. He was responsible for the coordination of national intellectual property enforcement supervision bodies, in particular the organization of pilot projects of IP management in general and IP management of High and New Technology Industry Development Zones. He has participated in bilateral IP negotiations with the US, Japan, the EU and Russia. In addition, he participated in training and exchange programs on intellectual property and venture capital in US, Japan, EU and Australia.
Education
- LLD, Economic Law, Law School of Peking University
- LLM, Economic Law, Law School of Wuhan University
- LLB, Economic Law, Law School of Wuhan University
- Advanced studies on Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (Japan)
- Intern lawyer with Chandler LLP (USA)
Qualifications
- China licensed attorney (1993)
- China licensed trademark attorney (2000)
Professional Affiliations
- Arbitrator/Arbitrator for international commercial cases of Beijing Arbitration Commission
- Expert of the Domain Name Disputes Resolution Center, China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC)
- Tutor for graduates, Tsinghua University
- Chairman of the Patent Law Committee, Beijing Lawyers Association
- Commissioner of the Intellectual Property Commission of the All China Lawyers Association
- Standing director of China Law Association on Science and Technology
Publications
- ¡°Anti-Unfair Competition Law in China¡± 5/12/1994 China Financial and Economic News
- ¡°Legal Protection of Trade Secrets¡± 04/1994 Science & Technology and Law
- ¡°Technical Ascertainment in IP Cases¡± 02/1999 Science & Technology and Law
- ¡°Observing the Domain Name Protection Policy in China in Light of the IKEA Case¡± 04/2000 China Law
- ¡°Domain Name Protection and the Development of IP Law¡± 03/2001 Law Review
- ¡°Research on the Legal Rule of Immaterial Assets Competition¡± 03/2002 Intellectual Property Rights
- ¡°The Possibility of the China-US IP Disputes at WTO and Countermeasures¡± 25/09/2006 Legal Daily
- ¡°Restrain IP Abuse by Anti-monopoly Law¡ªAn Analysis of the Tsum (Sichuan) Technology Co., Ltd. v. Sony Case¡± 09/2007 Electronics IP
- ¡°Legal Bottom-line for Search Engine Providers¡± 02/2008 Faren Magazine
- ¡°Tomato Garden and IP Strategy¡± 24/08/2008 Legal Daily
- ¡°End of False Prosperity: A return of rationality in well-known trademark recognition¡± 30/04/2009 Legal Daily
- ¡°On Infringement Liabilities of Internet Search Engine Providers¡± 03/2009 Science & Technology and Law
- IP protection in the past 20 years in China, Patent Literature Publishing House
- China IP Law, CCH Publishing House of Australia
- Theory and Practice of China Tax Law, Wuhan Press
- The Legal Enchiridion for Officials in Science and Technology Industry, China Legal Press
