Biography
Sharon is Principal, Senior Partner and Head of Litigation Group at Lusheng Law Firm, Member of the Rouse Network.
She obtained a PhD from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Germany and has been practicing in the Intellectual Property (IP) field for over 20 years. Sharon has a rich body of experience in IP strategy and IP litigation and enforcement. She has led hundreds of IP cases, many of which were selected as noteworthy cases of the year by courts at all levels, including the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), and she has won a variety of professional awards.
Sharon obtained a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the Southwest University of Political Science and Law, and a postgraduate degree of civil law from the Renmin University of China. She was awarded a scholarship to study as a Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law in Munich, followed by her obtaining a PhD in law from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
Sharon is the author of the book Comparison of the Chinese Unfair Competition Law with German Law and a variety of publications regarding IP issues in China and around the world. She is a member of numerous law associations, including the Council of China Intellectual Property Law Association.
Sharon participated in the formulation and revision of related laws of China regarding IP, with much of her advice and opinions being adopted by the legislative and judicial authorities.
With her comprehensive expertise in IP litigation and enforcement, particularly in the domain of patents, trademarks, copyright and unfair competition, and extensive experience in SPC retrial proceedings, she works as the senior partner of Lusheng Law Firm in China that provides a full range of IP services to many well-known international and domestic companies. Many of her cases have been selected by the SPC and other courts for their unprecedented nature and she has won numerous professional awards.
Some of her prominent litigation cases include:
- Leading attorney representing Land Rover in both the second instance trial and the SPC retrial. In 2019, the other party’s retrial application was dismissed by the SPC. The second instance case successfully overturned the unfavourable judgement of the first instance and was awarded as one of the top 50 Typical Cases of Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property by Courts across China in 2016.
- Leading attorney representing Hansgrohe regarding the design patent infringement case in both the second instance trial and the SPC retrial. The SPC rejected the other party’s retrial application and maintained the second instance decision. The court granted a relatively high compensation for the design infringement cases.
- Leading attorney representing SGG regarding a trademark dispute in the SPC retrial. The case was successfully retried by the SPC, which overturned both the first and the second instance court decisions. The SPC supported both the similarity and the well-known trademark claims.
- Leading attorney representing Andis regarding the trademark dispute of “Andis” in the SPC retrial. The case was successfully retried by the SPC, and the SPC overturned both the second instance and the first instance decisions. It was selected by the SPC as its Top Typical Administrative Cases of 2018.
- Leading attorney representing RAFFLES for the retrial defence. The other side’s retrial application was dismissed by the SPC. The second instance judgement, which was in the client’s favour, was maintained.
- Leading attorney representing Worldwide Brands in the SPC retrial proceedings to defend the invalidation of the trademark “camel active”. Both the first and the second instance decisions were overturned. The client’s house mark was maintained. This case was listed as one of the Typical IP cases in 2017 by the China IP magazine.
- Leading attorney representing ThyssenKrupp in the SPC retrial proceedings to defend an invention patent infringement. The second instance decision was overturned. This case was listed as the No. 1 case of 50 Typical Cases of Judicial Protection of Intellectual Property by Courts across China in 2016.
- Leading attorney representing the company 3M in a high profile employee-inventor remuneration case in China, having successfully convinced the SPC to uphold the previous judgement. The case has a significant impact on the rule/policy of employee invention in China in the long term.
- Leading attorney representing Crocs in litigation against passing off on trade name and product designs via the anti-unfair competition law. This case was awarded as one of the Top 50 IP cases of China by the SPC and one of the Top 10 IP cases of Shanghai in 2015.
- Leading attorney representing Mars in the “WHISKAS” case against a Chinese Infringement company. This case was awarded as among the China Top IP Cases in 2012 by China IP magazine and was recommended by Beijing’s No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court.
- Leading attorney in the trademark/unfair competition case for Nivea against a Chinese infringer. This case won the 2009–2010 China IPR Best Practices Award of QBPC.
- Leading attorney in the ground-breaking online copyright litigation case in the international recording industry against Yahoo! China. This case was recognised as the No. 1 IP Case in China in 2007 by the Beijing Higher People’s Court.
- Leading attorney in the Peter Rabbit case acting for FREDERICK WARNE&CO．LTD. The case was recognised by the SIPO as the most influential case of 2004.