One of the most talked about firms among practitioners, Liu Shen & Associates maintains a strong position across the rankings. With 200 IP attorneys and lawyers, the firm is split between Beijing and Hong Kong. Known for its emphasis on patent prosecution work, the firm also has a solid litigation practice. Clients of the firm include Siemens, France Telecom, Technicolor and Sony.
The firm welcomed a few new additions this year. Chengbin Zhan joined in October 2011 from the patent examination centre of SIPO. Dan Shi and Huawei Zhang also joined as associates. Clients describe the firm to be strong overall and "shining examples of the best attorneys around".
The firm was involved in the first IP protection case related to online group buying. Kai Yang and Lin Zhao represented Le Coq Sportif in a lawsuit before the Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court against the commerce website www.xiu.com and www.didatuan.com for selling counterfeit shoes bearing Le Coq Sportif's mark. The court ruled in favour of Le Coq Sportif, finding that the websites bore joint responsibility.