Lifang & Partners suffered a blow two years ago when star litigator Jiang Hongyi and his team left, but it is still winning work on high-profile litigation, which shows the limited impact of the departure. The firm's Guangzhou office expanded at the start of 2010 to merge with Liu & Partners, an IP firm in Guangzhou, to strengthen its practice in south China.
One of the most outstanding pieces of work on its account is defending Zhongwei Bus & Coach Group against a patent infringement charge filed by German bus maker Neoplan. Zhongwei and its subsidiary Zonda Industrial Group lost the previous hearings and were ordered to pay Rmb21.16 million ($3 million) to its German rival as damages. Partner Xue Guanbin is now helping Zhongwei to invalidate Neoplan's design patent in an effort to overturn the infringement case.
Xue also led the charge in China's first key judicial anti-monopoly case, representing the Beijing branch of China Netcom (now China Unicom) against an individual who accused the telecommunications operator of only giving him the choice of pre-payment when he purchased fixed telephone services because he is not a registered permanent resident in Beijing. The client won both the first instance and the final judgment in Beijing High People's Court.
Samsung Electronics, French chemical company Rhodia Chimie and Guangdong Midea Electric Appliance are some other entities that have worked with Lifang & Partners on patent cases recently. A client speaks highly of the firm's expertise: "I recommend the firm because its lawyers not only know the law, but they also know the technology. In terms of IP litigation, I think Lifang is the best."