Jian Xu

Based in our Beijing office, Dr. Jian Xu is an internationally recognized China Intellectual Property (IP) expert. A dually qualified Chinese attorney (2008) and patent/trademark agent (2006), Jian was our first local Chinese employee when Gowling WLG opened its first China office back in 2008 and is currently the Managing Director and Head of IP Prosecution.

Jian provides strategic advice on all aspects of IP in business, including the drafting, prosecution, acquisition, and licensing of patents, trademarks, copyright and know-how. On the contentious side, he has managed IP litigation and administrative actions all over China. Sector focus includes the chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, agricultural, energy, and oil & gas industries. Jian has a strong science background, and has a BSc degree in polymer chemistry from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology and a PhD degree in organic chemistry from the University of Manchester in the UK.

Jian has assisted Dyson with its IP enforcement actions in China since 2011. Over the last 10+ years, he has handled over 200 patent invalidation actions before the CNIPA and managed dozens of patent and design litigation actions across China on behalf of Dyson.

On patent and trademark filing and prosecution, he has assisted many international companies and IP filing firms worldwide (including in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore) in filing and managing patent and trademark portfolios in China. Selected matters include:

• Filed and managed the ever-expanding patent and design portfolios of a UK automotive company and advised on various IP recordal, transactional, and portfolio structuring issues.
• Advised on improving the Chinese trademark portfolio of a UK food company, filed and managed all the new applications, and successfully resolved the trademark piracy problems in China.
• Conducted numerous trademark opposition proceedings for a U.S. multinational financial services company against pre-emptive registrations, as well as domain name disputes, protecting its well-known brand in China.
• Filed a series of patent invalidations for a Singaporean multinational technology company at the Patent Re-examination Board of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), successfully invalidating over 90% of the various copycat patents.
• Managed the entire trademark portfolio of an American nutrition company in China, which includes around 85 trademarks. In particular, we defeated a Chinese trademark squatter who pirated the most important brand in class 5, winning the key trademark back for the client.

Jian is a leading China IP expert at the European IPR SME Helpdesk, the British Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, and the Embassy of Canada in Beijing. Jian has been ranked as a leading individual in both the WTR Trademark 1000 and the IAM Patent 1000 since 2016. Jian was also recognized by Who's Who Legal 2020 for his patent work.

Jian is the author of "Chinese Intellectual Property – A Practitioner's Guide", published by the China IP Publishing House in January 2013.