Legal Awards 2020

4 APAC / Legal Awards 2020 , Aug20322 Most Trusted IP Specialist (Greater China): Feng Liu Intellectual Property is a highly valued commodity, whichmeans that ensuring it is legally binding is essential tomany businesses’ continued success. Experts like Feng Liu of Dentons Shanghai Office play a key part in this. We caught up withMr Liu to see howhe and the team at Dentons have supported companies to protect valuable assets frompotential harm. Established in 2001, Dentons Shanghai Office has become a powerful of legal expertise in the Shanghai region. Currently responsible for the continued employment of more than 490 lawyers, and more than 200 partners, the firm is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of clients no matter what they required. Feng Liu is the director of the firm’s renowned Intellectual Property department, as well as a senior partner of Dentons Shanghai Office. Having spent many years working in the management of a state- owned enterprise, accumulating a wealth of experience in corporate operations and management, he has been an active lawyer for more than 17 years. This role, therefore, combines his two talents into one position, allowing many to benefit. We started our interview by asking Mr Liu what areas he primarily practices in. “My practice area focuses on intellectual property rights of a wide variety of industries,” he explains. “I provide my clients with a strong command of company operation and intellectual property protection, especially from contentious side specializing in tailoring intellectual property protection solutions, improving corporate governance structure of enterprises, and standardizing the operating model of enterprises.” Much of Mr Liu’s work revolves around the fields of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, film, television and entertainment, consumer goods, electronics, computers and software, telecommunications and technology. Under today’s high-risk market environment, these industries will pay more attention for original work protection calling for a more professional legal service. The sheer breadth of services and areas in which Mr Liu works means that he is in high demand indeed. He is considered an influential figure in IP laws, serving as the legal adviser to Shanghai Fengxian District People’s Government and director of the Intellectual Property Committee of Shanghai Bar Association alongside his current role at Dentons Shanghai Office. Every client has their own set of needs, with individual challenges that set them apart from the competition. Mr Liu ensures that before any legal services are offered, these needs are not only understood, but can be fulfilled in their entirety. He informs us that “our team will continue to improve the cooperation and service quality, constantly adapt and innovate, and take the lead in the field of intellectual property to ensure high-quality service and success.” The team are constantly looking for new ways in which they can lead the field of IP protection, and one of the latest projects for the team has been supporting has been for the development of a News and Aggregation Platform. Mr Liu explains that “This service is different from the defensive legal services common to intellectual property lawyers in the past. It belongs to the category of lawyers providing front-end defensive legal services. Its work requirements and difficulties are that it requires lawyers to understand the judicial thinking of the courts across the country on Internet intellectual property cases, and be familiar with website programming and operation.” Staying at the forefront of developments in this way in one of the many reasons why Mr Liu and his team continue to achieve such amazing results for their firm. This project is incredibly innovative and designed top meet the needs of tomorrow’s intellectual property lawyers, providing a proactive approach to what has traditionally been a reactive industry. The decision to take a different approach has set Mr Liu apart across the industry. The protection of intellectual property has drawn increasing attention worldwide, but these protections are often inadequate and ineffective due to the use of passive and defensive methods. Rich judicial experience has allowed Mr Liu to take the first steps to transform the industry into an active and preventative model. Of course, Mr Liu has not stopped there. He is always looking for new areas into which he can expand his chosen field of intellectual property. Currently, he is exploring various large-scale Internet platforms such as aggregation platforms of news and online recruitment information. These platforms will play a crucial part in the development and innovation of intellectual property protection. The success of Mr Liu’s approach has allowed him to gain a degree of notoriety on behalf of the legal sector. He has been invited to serve as a lecturer at Koguan School of Law, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, East China University of Political Science and Law Lawyers Institute, providing multi-level practice training for lawyers. This gives him the opportunity to impart his unique experience to those who are only just entering the industry. Mr Liu is also often requested to appear the lawyer guest on Shanghai’s TV stations, providing advice on programs such as “party A and party B” and “China Business News” many times. Looking ahead, it’s clear that Mr Liu has found the right place to thrive at Dentons Shanghai Office. As a large-scale comprehensive law firm with standardized management, it has managed to generate in excess of RMB 1 billion for three years between 2017 and 2019. Much as Mr Liu is looking for the future of his particular specialism, so too are the team at Dentons. Their office is committed to the continued success of the business on an international scale, with their Shanghai office being one of the standout performers. Clients who turn to Dentons Shanghai Office don’t just find exceptional support in Shanghai, but access to a much broader business that covers 75 countries and 183 regions. This potent mix of global resource, but local knowledge allows clients to have the most complex