Wan Hui Da Intellectual Property Agency

After over 10 years’ robust and steady growth, Wan Hui Da is now recognised by industry peers and clients alike for the high quality of its service. Managing Intellectual Property and World Trademark Review have both listed the firm as a top-tier local IP firm for 2010-2012. Its clients particularly appreciate its responsiveness and tenacity in defending their IP rights in China.

The firm’s IP rights service covers the whole range of prosecution, dispute and litigation work, as well as all forms of enforcement – administrative, criminal and civil. It has established its reputation through a lengthy series of landmark cases in China. It assisted in having GILLETTE recognised as a well-known brand by the Chinese authorities – one of the first instances of a foreign brand achieving such recognition. It also assisted in obtaining registration of DURACELL as the first colour combination trademark in China. Of the 36 precedents cited in the Supreme Court’s 2010 Annual IP Rights Report, the firm handled four of these, covering patents, trademarks, copyright and civil procedures. In 2011 four of the firm's cases were cited by the Supreme Court's Annual IP Rights Report.

The firm offers a perfect combination of legal practice and theory. As its slogan “Expertise makes it possible” reveals, the firm’s academic research greatly enhances its levels of practice. Wan Hui Da prides itself on being home to the top IP specialists in China. The textbooks on patent law, trademark law and copyright law that have been authored or compiled by its specialists are widely used in Chinese law schools; treatises by the firm’s lawyers are cited by courts at all levels and they are frequently consulted by Chinese authorities on complicated IP issues. Their contributions to the drafting and subsequent amendment of China’s major IP laws, and their interpretation of court decisions, have put Wan Hui Da in a privileged position to anticipate changes in legislation and the enforcement of IP laws for the benefit of its clients.

Practice areas

Trademarks
The firm has more than 100 staff engaged in trademark-related matters and more than 40 trademark counsel and attorneys.

Trademark prosecution has always been a leading practice area at Wan Hui Da. The firm can handle:
• prosecution;
• administrative litigation;
• background investigations and purchase negotiations;
• trademark surveys;
• organisation of seminars on trademark expertise;
• organisation of trademark evaluations;
• trademark-related contract reviews; and
• trademark-related consulting.

Patents
The firm’s active patent team comprises 25 patent attorneys specialised in patent and design prosecution and contentious matters, 70% of whom have at least seven years’ experience in providing clients with a ‘onestop’ patent service. It conducts over 1,200 patent cases annually, including more than 20 patent invalidation cases and more than 30 patent infringement litigations and judicial reviews of administrative decisions.

It has represented dozens of worldfamous clients in various industries and achieved a 90% mission success rate in both patent prosecution and contentious cases. It is home to the highest-level patent experts and former examiners from the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), providing the firm with valuable insight into SIPO procedures and good communications with examiners.

IP enforcement
Wan Hui Da is China’s number one IP firm in respect of enforcement work, winning numerous awards for its exemplary enforcement cases every year. It has over 10 years’ experience in enforcement and conducts 1,000-plus enforcement cases annually. More than 50 experienced inhouse investigators are professionally trained across different industries.

IP lawsuits
Wan Hui Da is a full-service IP firm with over 20 lawyers specialised in IP lawsuits, some of whom have more than 10 years’ experience in litigation. It acts in more than 200 IP lawsuits annually, including civil lawsuits, judicial reviews of administrative decisions and criminal prosecutions. It represents dozens of world-famous clients in various industries and was ranked in the top tier in trademark contentious matters by Managing Intellectual Property for 2009 to 2012.