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Spring Chang
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Spring Chang
Managing Partner Attorney at Law Trademark Agent

Named the World's Leading Intellectual Property Lawyer by Chambers & Partners, Spring Chang has advised and represented numerous world's leading companies in a wide array of business sectors such as electronics, consumer, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, apparel, and jewelry. 

Thanks to her creative approach and high efficiency in over three decades of practice, Spring has earned an international reputation and many publications appreciate her "great judgment" and "wealth of experience in serving well-known multinationals".

Spring has been widely recognized as one of the most influential IP lawyers in China by leading legal media as she always provides clients with tailored legal solutions in a rapidly changing Chinese market. She has been also invited by renowned legal associations and institutions worldwide to share her extensive knowhows in trademark and design patent law.

springchang@changtsi.com
+86 10 88369999
Trademark Prosecution / Litigation & Dispute Resolution / IP Commercial
Beijing / Shanghai / Hong Kong / U.S

Practice Focus

Years with IP Matters

1991 until now

Professional Experience

  • Founding Partner, Chang Tsi & Partners, Beijing, China
  • Partner, Globe-Law Law Firm, Beijing, China
  • Visiting Attorney, Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu
  • Attorney at Law, Patent and Trademark Firm of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
  • Agent, State Planning Committee, General Office

Representative Cases

  • Participated in discussions on intellectual property protection strategies for numerous top 500 domestic and international enterprises, providing strategic and complete solutions for trademark and patent layout and protection for these clients on a global scale. Provided comprehensive, multi-level, and one-stop legal services for clients in the fields of intellectual property rights confirmation, protection, and commercial operation.
  • Provided a global patent protection strategy for numerous domestic and foreign clients, including rights confirmation, protection, and licensing and transfer of patents; also conducted due diligence on patents for investment and mergers and acquisitions in China by many foreign enterprises, including ITW, a Fortune 500 company, and Kohler Corporation in the United States. In the case of Kohler's acquisition of intellectual property rights of a Chinese high-tech enterprise, Chang conducted a risk analysis of the existing patent rights of the acquired party and reduced the acquisition costs of Kohler Company by 60%.
  • Represented Tiffany & Co. since 2002 and filed large numbers of applications, oppositions, and declarations of invalidity. Recently, Chang helped Tiffany & Co. gain well-known status for its trademark, enabling Tiffany & Co. to strengthen and protect its brand from various infringers.
  • Successfully represented the client in MICHAEL KORS v Shantou Chenghai Jianfa Handbag Craft Factory which was also rated as a typical case of the year by the Supreme People's Court, Zhejiang Provincial High Court, and Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court; it was selected as the "Best Transaction of 2018" by Asialaw & Benchmark Litigation and was also named one of the "Top 10 Most Research Value Intellectual Property Cases in China in 2017" by the Shanghai Intellectual Property Research Institute.
  • Successfully persuaded the court to accept the Under Armour case, in which CNY 100,000,000 (roughly USD 15,000,000) was claimed in damages.
  • In the past 5 years, Chang has filed 13 litigations on behalf of Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co), successfully helping Levi Strauss & Co. to gain well-known recognition for the "LEVI'S" word mark and the Two Horses Design by the Trademark Review and Appeal Board.
  • Represented Encyclopedia Britannica in a trademark infringement case against Xinlei Publishing House; she successfully terminated all infringing activities, and the court awarded her client CNY 253,111 (roughly USD 40,824) in damages; she prepared a C&D letter, resulting in 34,500 returned copies of the infringing books and thus minimized the loss caused by the infringement.
  • Successfully represented Graco, the leader in fluid handling systems and components industry, in an infringement case: Shanghai Sanqi was ordered to issue a public apology and pay CNY 4,000,000 (roughly USD 600,000) in damages.
  • Represented PetroChina in a patent infringement case, worked closely with the inventors to clarify the invention process step-by-step, successfully highlighted the differences between the technical solutions, and protected the reputation of PetroChina.
  • Effectively represented Dart Industries to stop third party infringement, wherein the court ordered the infringing party to stop all manufacturing activities, destroy all inventory, turn over all molds, and Dart received CNY 150,000 (roughly USD 22,000) in damages.
  • Successfully represented Johnson & Johnson in several high stakes litigation cases (including criminal proceedings) before the Supreme People's Court of China.

Selected Awards

Education

  • L.L.M., China University of Political Science and Law (1991)
  • L.L.B., Liaoning University (1988)

Speech

  • Safeguarding Brands Beyond Borders - ABA-IPL Section Annual Meeting, 2024
  • Securing IP Rights in China - Copyright Protection, USPTO China IP Road Show, 2023
  • Changes of Chinese Trademark Laws and Practices, IPTA (The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia), 2023
  • Composite trademarks: How Different is Different, AIPPI Congress SF, 2022
  • Evolution and Revolution of Intellectual Property Regime, Malaysia Intellectual Property Conference, 2022
  • Recent Changes in China Trademark Law and Our Take-aways, Boston Bar Association, 2022
  • Protection of Intellectual Assets in the New Digital Environment, Intellectual Property Conference, 2022
  • Metaverse, NFTs and IP protection, Lotus, 2022
  • Time to Update Your IPR Strategy in Changing China, PLI (Practicing Law Institute), online, 2021
  • Developments in Chinese Patent Law, The Bar Association of San Francisco, 2021
  • How to Deal with Rampant Copycats and Infringers in China, HGF Limited, US, 2020
  • Cyber Security Law and IP Protection, Mondelez, online, 2020
  • An Overview of Trademarks Protection & Enforcement in China, K&S Partners, online, 2020
  • How to Deal with Large Number of Squatters in China, Fordham IP Conference, New York, 2019
  • IP Right Protection Strategy in Tradeshow in China, Kholer, Shanghai, 2018
  • Trademark Prior Rights Protection, INTA, Florida, 2016

Publications

  • How Rising Filing Rates are Challenging Protection -CHINA IP FOCUS 2014
  • Protecting Your Brand Under the New Rules -China Law & Practice IP Focus 2014
  • The First Domain Name Dispute Case in China, Running to Catch Up (Hong Kong) -IP ASIA
  • Trademark Protection - Asia Law & Practice
  • Protecting Intellectual Property Rights at Exhibitions-IP Review 2006
  • Protect Your Trademark From Genericide - Asian Legal Business
  • Trademark Protection - Asia Law & Practice

Membership

  • INTA (Member of Famous and Well-Known Marks Committee)
  • AIPLA (Member/Member of Trademark Law Committee)
  • AIPPI
  • Marques (Teams Member, 2019-2021)
  • Practising Law Institute (Guest Lecturer, 2021)

Bar Admission

China Bar (1992)

Languages

Chinese
English

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