China IP Basics, Part 2: Enforcing your intellectual property rights

Email: tso@obwbip.com

Ms. Han-Mei Tso's practice focuses on patent litigation, intellectual property (IP) licensing and portfolio management, trademark registration, and patent prosecution strategic counseling. She has extensive experience in various aspects of patent infringement litigation and provides legal advice on U.S. patent litigation as well as U.S. International Trade Commission investigations for clients based in China and Taiwan.

In the area of IP counseling, Ms. Tso has developed comprehensive global IP strategies for international clients for patent procurement, trademark registration, and trade secret protection with a broad view of clients' businesses and technologies.

Prior to her current position, Ms. Tso was an associate at a prestigious Taiwanese law firm, where her practice focused on commercial litigation and business transactions. Ms. Tso also frequently served as an outside counsel for major Taiwanese companies. She has significant experience in working with corporate in-house legal teams to provide legal services on matters relating to license agreements, contract negotiations, and IP investment and management. Before practicing law in the United States, Ms. Tso was deputy general counsel for a Taiwanese public company, where she advised on corporate law, securities regulation, and corporate governance matters.

Ms. Tso received a bachelor’s of law from the Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei, a master’s of law from Soochow University in Taipei, and a master’s of law from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Email: fang.he@cn.kwm.com

Mr. He Fang specializes in intellectual property (IP) litigation at King & Wood Malleson’s Shanghai office, where he is a senior IP litigator and co-leads the office’s IP litigation group.

Mr. Fang has a solid theoretical foundation and rich practical experience in the field of IP, with substantial Chinese litigation and enforcement experience. His achievements include working on a series of landmark IP cases, such as the first declaration for non-infringement of trademark in China and the first preliminary injunction award for a design patent in Zhejiang Province. He is particularly strong in the areas of trademark, trade dress, and copyright, having successfully advocated for a number of clients in several high-profile and award-winning cases.

Mr. Fang is widely recognized by industry and clients for his expertise in IP matters. He was included in “China’s Top100 Lawyers” by the China Business Law Journal in 2017, “Leading Lawyers” by Asialaw Profiles 2019–2021, and named as a leading trademark professional in the World Trademark Review 1000. He was also selected by China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate as a state’s expert in the field of IP for civil and administrative cases.

Prior to working at King & Wood Mallesons, Mr. Fang worked at Rouse & Co International LLP and was managing partner of Beijing Lusheng Lawyers (Shanghai). He also worked at the Hong Kong and Shanghai offices of Clifford Chance and was an IP litigator in Shanghai Patent & Trademark Law Office.

Mr. Fang obtained his bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Shanghai and his master’s in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science. 

Joel Blank is an experienced international trade and intellectual property (IP) attorney, with a background in government policy development. At the U.S. company Chapter 4 Corp., he is responsible for developing strategic initiatives to improve IP systems to better protect creative, IP-intensive companies.

Previously, Mr. Blank served as the section chief and Asia-Pacific regional product safety attaché for the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, where he promoted compliance with U.S. product safety requirements and coordinated closely with product safety regulators throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Before joining the CPSC, he served as the intellectual property attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, where he was the principal officer in the embassy on all matters related to the protection and enforcement of IP rights in China. Prior to his appointment as the IP attaché, Mr. Blank was an attorney-advisor in the Office of the Administrator for Policy and External Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where he led policy activities concerning IP enforcement in China.

Mr. Blank started his legal career as an attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce in the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he provided legal and policy advice on trade matters involving China, IP, international investment, and other issues related to international trade.

Mr. Blank received his law degree from the American University’s Washington College of Law. He received his bachelor’s in business from Drake University, where he studied international business, accounting, and management.