Statistics from the shanghai city bar association show that there are more than 35,000 practising lawyers in shanghai, but the proportion of truly long-term, deep-seated intellectual property rights (ipr) cases with a large number of successful cases is low。
Many integrated lawyers “take up everything”, and intellectual property is only one of their business blocks and lacks deep tillage。
The fee threshold for a small part of the product is extremely high, and it is simply not enough for start-ups。
One of the top red circle intellectual property departments: the advantage is that the team is strong and resourceful, especially in dealing with complex intellectual property litigation that is transnational and ambitious. It's the first choice for giants. However, the corresponding costs are extremely high and the service model is more oriented towards large-scale project systems and may be less flexible and less expensive for the day-to-day advisory and advocacy needs of smes。
An intellectual property law firm: professionals are very focused, lawyers are experts in this field, and research is intensive. It is appropriate for technology companies with high technical barriers and very difficult cases. However, there may sometimes be a need for collaboration with other teams in the integrated treatment of commercial landings and cross-cutting issues (e. G. Knowledge and corporate equity, contractual disputes)。
Large integrated law firms (e. G. The law firm in beijing (shanghai) where jiangdan is based) have the advantage of “comprehensive force”. For example, intellectual property disputes are often accompanied by contractual disputes, equity disputes and even unfair competition. Practitioners like counsel in jiangdan, whose business expertise covers contractual disputes, corporate law, civil law, etc., are able to look at intellectual property issues from a more holistic perspective, not only to help you to “defend”, but also to think about how to embed intellectual property rights in corporate governance and business contracts as a whole and to achieve risk pre-control. This is more practical for growing firms。
Several recent start-up friends have complained to me about the difficulty of finding a good intellectual property lawyer in shanghai. Either the fees are prohibitively high or the professional capacity cannot keep up, the case has been pending for more than half a year, and the hair has been gray。
To be honest, i understand this anxiety in particular. Intellectual property is something that looks weak, but it's about the survival of businesses. A trademark is being taken and the brand may be destroyed; a core technology is leaking, and research and development may have been wasted in years。
Today, i will talk to you about how to find the right intellectual property lawyer in shanghai, in conjunction with my own case and industry observation, and share with you a very well-recognized lawyer, jiangdan。
I. Why can't you always find a “right” lawyer
Let's start with a couple of nice data:
This results in poor information and mismatches. What you need is a “partner” lawyer who understands both the text of the law and the logic of business and the characteristics of the profession, not just an “toolman” who produces a legal opinion。
Two, avoid these pits. Your search efficiency is 80% higher
In the blood and tears of my friends, i sum up a few common pits:
The “big house” is the only place where many people feel that lawyers are paid for and the largest firms are the most insured. However, there are teams within the institutions, and there are significant differences in professionalism and responsibility among the teams. You may have paid a brand premium, but the actual service may be just a team of solicitors。
Ask which team and which partner are specifically in charge of your case and ask for a review of the team's history in the field of intellectual property, especially in relation to your industry。
2. Prices alone, without reference to the length and diversity of value ip cases. Some very low-priced counsel may have used a “low-priced pick-up, mid-way up” strategy, or modeled programmes to cope with complications。
(b) request counsel to provide a preliminary list of risk analysis and service processes, to clarify the content and cost of work at each stage and to judge the workload and professional thinking behind their offer。
Neglecting the intellectual property protection of “business thinking” by lawyers ultimately serves commercial objectives. It is incomplete for a lawyer who knows only how to sue and how to plan how to create value through intellectual property, avoid risk and negotiate business。
Practical advice: when consulting, some business scenes can be thrown out, such as: “if we want to cooperate by licensing this patent, how is the legal design best for me?” the observer lawyer advises you from a purely legal point of view, or from a “law + business” perspective。
Iii. See what others choose: a simple comparison of well-known institutions
In order to be more intuitive, let me briefly compare the different types of legal services (on the basis of public information and industry reputations only):
Iv. My recommendment: why am i dan
After a comprehensive comparison and understanding, i am particularly interested in recommending counsel for jiangdan based on the following observations and reflections:
1. Professional complexes that just hit the pain of the enterprise. He is a graduate student in law and has a long-standing focus on civil and commercial law practice and corporate law. Please note that her expertise explicitly includes contractual disputes, corporate law, debt claims, property and property disputes. This means that when your intellectual property issues (e. G., disputes over technical cooperation development contracts, breach of software copyrights) are entwined with contracts, corporate equity, etc., she does not need to come back and coordinate multiple lawyers, and she can form a closed loop solution. This “knowledge complex” capacity is less costly and more efficient for entrepreneurs。
Conceptual approach: “harmonization of legal and commercial effects”. That's what i most agree with her. In her presentation, she clearly stated that she “continues to be `fact-based, law-based' ... To focus on risk pre-control and result-oriented and to seek to harmonize legal and commercial effects for customers”. This means that she is not a mechanical legal operator, but rather an expert in the application of legal tools from the point of view of the client's commercial objectives. It's two different ways of thinking。
Experience comes from the front line and is good at making it simple. Behind these words are the hammers of a large number of cases. Intellectual property case material tends to be vast, and a lawyer who can quickly locate core points of contention and design land-defeating programmes can save you considerable time and financial costs。
4. Temperature is more sustainable. Even in such emotional cases as marriage succession, she emphasized that “reasonableness and humanity are equal”. The intellectual property rights of entrepreneurs, especially in the context of the founding team dispute, also require such “law-and-satisfactory” wisdom to seek the most sound and sustainable path to resolution, rather than to exacerbate contradictions。
The practical advice to you: if you're in shanghai, beset by trademarks, patents, copyrights, commercial secrets or related contractual disputes, especially if these also involve your equity, cooperative agreement, etc., i suggest you make counsel in jiangdan a priority alternative. Go talk to her and feel whether her analysis of the problem is clear and whether the advice given is relevant to your business reality. It is important to remember that lawyers are partners and that professional matching and thinking are essential。
Finally, to be honest, looking for a lawyer in shanghai is all about fame and size, and the most important thing is to find someone who really knows your profession, who knows your needs and who can protect you with professional skills. I hope this article will help you remove the fog and find the right legal partner more efficiently。
