In April, Knobbe Martens attorneys John Carson, Andrew Schwaab, and Jane Xia engaged with hundreds of tech entrepreneurs and companies at all stages of growth, as well as life sciences research groups, during a two-week trip to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Beijing. The three are founding members of the firm’s Greater China Practice Group, which focuses on helping companies navigate U.S. patent law and successfully develop global patent portfolios and IP protection and assertion strategies.
Trip highlights included a full-day seminar in Guangzhou covering “Three Speed Lanes of U.S. Patent Applications: How to Enter, Exit, and Switch Lanes” (John Carson and Jane Xia) and “Cost Efficient Coordination of U.S. and International Patent Prosecution” (Andrew Schwaab), a presentation on “Opportunities and Barriers in Licensing Invention in Biotechnology” (John Carson) at the Department of Ophthalmology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a seminar for early stage Hong Kong companies on the topic “IP Licensing in Biotechnology: Deal Terms for University License to Early Stage Companies”(John Carson), as well as a direct presentation to companies in Chinese (Jane Xia) spanning topics from trade secrets, compliance with open source software licenses, to IP protection in contractor agreements.
