With the rapid growth of knowledge-based economy and accelerated development of world economic integration, the amounts of transnational IP applications and disputes have both soared, which lead to a dramatically increasing demand for corresponding IP services. Therefore, with the fast growth of the IP business, some outstanding international IP agencies and law firms have emerged.

 

Meanwhile, as the Chinese market continues to open up, Chinese enterprises are also accelerating their internationalization. Statistics of recent years show that, both PCT applications and trademark applications filed by Chinese enterprises have increased sharply; the Chinese copyright protection system has been brought further in line with international standards; Chinese enterprises began to be involved in IP wars around the world.

 

Against such a backdrop, a growing number of international IP service agencies are turning their eyes to China. By virtue of their expertise and experiences in the industry, these agencies constantly seek to expand their business space and scope in the Chinese market.

 

In order to get a better understanding of the business status of the aforesaid agencies, China IP and China Daily co-launched a “Survey on Global IP Service Agencies with Chinese Business,” which aimed to collect comprehensive first-hand information on details such as the agencies’ strength, scale, personnel structure, featured services, promotion modes and China-related business status, etc.

 

The survey was carried out for 5 months, from August 1st to December 31st 2012. During the period, over 2000 questionnaires were sent out, covering IP service agencies from 52 countries. More than 502 agencies replied with valid statistics. Meanwhile, we also received 121 recommendation forms filled by industry insiders from in-house IP departments, scientific institutes, the Chinese judicial system and various IP related organizations.

 

These recommendations ensured the authority and objectiveness of the final result. The final recommendation list was delivered in the 3rd China IP Annual Forum through multiple media channels and had received warm responses from Chinese readers.

 

However, limited by time, territory, trade secrets and other factors, the recommendation list may have some drawbacks. We sincerely ask for understandings and forgiveness from readers and relevant units, and promise to do our best on future projects with our experiences gained from this survey.

 

The “Recommendation of Global IP Service Agencies with Chinese Business” takes into consideration of the following aspects of the agencies: number and size of their Chinese offices, number of Chinese employees in the home offices, number of non-Chinese employees with Chinese language abilities, employees based in China, patent and trademark applications as well as litigations in mainland China, average business volumes of the last 5 years, recommendations and so on.

 

Since the survey data involves trade secrets of the enterprises, to fulfill the obligation of confidentiality, China IP will not reveal the statistics of any agency but only provide recommendations instead.

 

Disclaimer: 1. This list of recommendations serves only for reference; China IP reserves the right of final explanation.

 

2. If any errors are found, please contact the research team of China IP.

 

(Email: chinaip.survey@hurrymedia.com) 3. Recommended agencies are categorized by country and listed in no particular order; agencies that have Chinese names enjoy priority recommendation.