Areas of Practice
Li Chao specializes in IP litigation and dispute resolution, involving patent, trade secret, copyright, trademark, and unfair competition.
Mr. Li has extensive experience of about 20 years in representing a diverse range of domestic and international companies in IP infringement litigation, administrative court appeals and patent invalidation. He has a strong professional advantage and rich practical experience across various industries, including chemistry, materials, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, electric vehicles, traction battery/battery material, LCD/OLED display material/technology, large machinery, robotics, the internet, and artificial intelligence. Mr. Li has been focusing on delivering practical and innovative solutions to clients involved in high-profile IP disputes with cutting-edge legal issues.
His scope of practice covers not only contentious IP matters such as patent invalidation proceedings, patent and trade secret infringement litigations, but also non-contentious IP matters including drafting and reviewing IP license and transfer agreement, negotiating, advising on IP strategies, conducting FTO analysis prior to the product launch, developing enterprise IP management manuals, conducting IP due diligence, planning IP operation, and facilitating the commercialization of research findings.
Some of the cases represented by Mr. Li are as follows:
- Represented JDI in numerous patent infringement and invalidation disputes against Tianma Microelectronics relating to OLED display technology, device construction and manufacturing techniques, which were part of the global patent litigations between the two companies, and successfully led to a global settlement between the parties.
- Represented Mitsubishi Chemical in numerous patent infringement litigations, invalidation and administrative litigations with a U.S. and a domestic enterprise, concerning expert witness of material composition, crystal structure and luminous performance of phosphor in LED field, and secured favorable judgments for his clients in this extremely complex series of patent cases.
- Represented Fuji to defend in patent infringement litigations, invalidation and administrative litigations with a domestic company.
- Represented AGC in numerous patent litigations, invalidation and administrative litigations with a domestic listed company.
- Represented Uniqlo in numerous patent infringement litigations, and invalidation with a domestic company.
- Represented a prominent pharmaceutical company in Beijing in numerous patent infringement litigations, invalidation and administrative litigations with a well-known pharmaceutical company in Shandong.
- Represented a leading pharmaceutical intermediate synthesizer in Zhejiang in trade secret misappropriation with a domestic enterprise involving huge compensation.
- Represented a domestic display material company to negotiate, draft and review IP license and transfer agreement of its acquisition of thousands of patent portfolios distributed in multiple countries and regions. The amount of transaction agreement involves RMB 240 million.
- Represented a leading battery material company in FTO and patent invalidation analysis against competitors’ patents.
- Represented the client in handling patent and know-how contracts in the program of a large car rental service provider investing electric vehicle company.
Mr. Li was awarded the title of “Highly recommended lawyer in Intellectual property” by The Legal 500- Asia Pacific, underscoring his outstanding reputation in the field.
Work Experience
Mr. Li joined King & Wood Mallesons in 2014.
From 2006 to 2013, Mr. Li worked at China National Intellectual Property Administration and Patent Reexamination Board, mainly focusing on patent examination, patent invalidation proceedings and administrative litigations.
Mr. Li was admitted to the P.R. China bar in 2007 and became a Chinese patent attorney in 2010.
Mr. Li’s working languages are English and Chinese.
