Shanghai-headquartered Llinks Law Offices is a well-known, full-service law firm with notable strengths in disputes advisory, commercial disputes and international arbitration. The Shanghai disputes team is active and recognised in a wide range of commercial matters, such as banking, finance and investment.
Peiming Yang, Patrick Zheng and Vincent Mu are key names in the firm, acting as lead partner on most cases in commercial disputes and international arbitrations.
Llinks lawyers recently achieved a significant victory in a patent ownership dispute case where the Supreme People's Court made a groundbreaking decision. Despite the patent being declared invalid, the court ruled that the invention's rights should still be reviewed for other civil rights. This case, involving multiple parties and spanning over a decade, sets a precedent for future similar disputes. The lead lawyer, Xiaoyan Che, has a strong background in science and engineering and specialises in patent and trade secret cases.
The team also secured a win in a copyright non-infringement. The court confirmed that the plaintiff did not infringe on the defendant's copyright and awarded Rmb200,000 ($27,400) for legal expenses. This case, the first of its kind in China, clarified the criteria for evaluating copyright infringement in audio-visual works, focusing on the visual scenes and storytelling, and has been included in the Supreme People's Court's list of typical intellectual property cases.
Additionally, the law firm won a significant case involving unfair competition in the blind box industry, representing the leading brand, Finding Unicorns, against a Hangzhou-based company. The court ruled that the defendant must cease infringement, eliminate the impact, and pay Rmb850,000 in damages. This case addressed the issue of "online blind box pre-sale" practices, which can undermine consumer trust and violate commercial ethics, setting a precedent for industry compliance and consumer protection.
