DeHeng, with over 675 lawyers one of the nation's largest law firms, has expanded its intellectual property practice with the addition of three senior partners to its head office in Beijing.

The new partners are Scott Zhang and Grace Li, joining from leading IP law firm Kangxin, and Sun Zheng, previously with China Zhenghe Intellectual Property Agency.

Zhang, who has more than 24 years of IP experience, will head the firm's national IP practice, having previously served as a senior partner and vice president of Kangxin. As a patent attorney, Zhang concentrates his practice on patent prosecution, invalidation, licensing and litigation. He has prosecuted thousands of patent applications related to inventions in mechanics, new materials, home appliances, telecommunication, computer science, and semiconductor fabrication and devices.

Grace Li, an experienced patent and trademark attorney, has particular expertise in trademark prosecution and litigation, IP custom enforcement, counterfeiting/infringement investigation and trademark strategy counseling. Sun Zheng specialises in handling patent prosecution, litigation, and licensing in the area of mechanics & electronics.

"DeHeng already has a sizable IP practice. The next step is to significantly grow its resources and capabilities in handling IP matters for international companies in China and Chinese clients expanding overseas," said Zhang. The new appointments reflect the ongoing expansion of DeHeng's IP practice.

DeHeng's top-ranked domestic client base and its full-service capabilities are the main reasons why the new partners decided to join the firm. "An increasing number of DeHeng's existing domestic clients will have the need to file patents and trademarks in foreign countries and to commercialise their IP assets and protect their IP rights there," Zhang said. "We'll increase our offer to advance clients' international business goals."

Currently, DeHeng's IP group consists of 34 patent attorneys, five trademark attorneys and 12 general lawyers.

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