James Luo

What have been your proudest professional achievements to date, and why do these stand out?

What I am most proud of is my involvement with the Quality Brands Protection Committee – we successfully lobbied the Supreme Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate to lower the criminal thresholds for trademark counterfeiting. Previously, illegal gains exceeding 500,000 yuan for companies and 150,000 yuan for individuals constituted a criminal offence. Our advocacy led to these thresholds being reduced to 50,000 yuan, enhancing the enforceability of IP crimes and marking a significant victory for brand protection.

My experience managing landmark landlord liability cases at Baker McKenzie and subsequently at Lawjay Partners further underscores my proudest achievements. These cases not only attracted prestigious clientele, including some of the world’s most renowned luxury brands (eg, LVM, Burberry, Chanel, MCM and Michael Kors), but they also set new precedents for IP law in China. Our success in these cases – particularly our ability to hold commercial landlords accountable for counterfeiting activities conducted on their premises – has been instrumental in evolving the legal framework for brand protection.

Another milestone for me was influencing a pivotal Beijing Chaoyang District Court ruling, which recognised trademark squatting as a form of civil infringement, thus requiring infringers to compensate brand owners. This decision has also played a crucial role in strengthening China’s legal brand protection regime.

Venturing into arbitration has opened a significant new chapter in my career. Serving as an arbitrator for WIPO and previously at the Beijing Arbitration Commission, I have been privileged to resolve disputes from a perspective that extends beyond the confines of traditional courtroom settings. This role has not only expanded my professional horizons but also enabled me to contribute to the fair and impartial resolution of IP disputes on a global scale. For example, when I represented a client in a WIPO dispute, I successfully facilitated the return of a trademark to a Chinese company from a foreign entity, which underscores the impact and reach of my work in this arena.

Finally, my 30-year-long advocacy before the Chinese courts has been a journey towards realising a more just legal system. Despite the improvements, challenges persist. These have motivated my aspiration to serve as an arbitrator, through which I am able to fulfil my dream of acting as a judge, striving for neutrality and justice in every case. This ambition was recently embodied in my appointment as an arbitrator by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Commission for a significant trademark dispute.

Reflecting on these milestones, it is clear to me that my proudest moments have not been about personal accolades, but about the opportunity to make a lasting impact on IP law in China. I am always striving for fairness and the advancement of brand protection.

As managing partner of Lawjay Partners, what does inspiring leadership look like to you? 

Inspiring leadership at Lawjay Partners means having a deep understanding of and ability to navigate China’s IP policy landscape – this positions our firm as the crucial link between these policies and the international businesses that we serve. We advocate for a nuanced comprehension of China’s commitment to protecting IP rights to ensure that our clients grasp the complexities of local court practices, which may not always align with their expectations.

Leadership at our firm is about more than just managing; it is about conveying the subtleties of China’s legal ecosystem to our clients and affirming that local practices do not undermine the country’s dedication to robust IP protection. This is vital for maintaining trust with our international clientele, particularly when navigating challenges presented by the local courts.

Looking ahead, I envision Lawjay Partners continuing as a specialised IP firm that values depth over breadth. We believe that excellence in legal practice comes from specialisation and focus, which makes us agile and adaptable. Our partnership with international firms like Bird & Bird enhances our global perspective, allowing us to offer tailored and high-quality services.

Our firm’s approach has cultivated trust among our clients, and it is rooted in our dedication to delivering exceptional legal services and our strategic vision. We aim to maintain this path of specialised excellence, bridging China’s IP policies with the global business community through inspiring leadership and strategic foresight.

How is your firm attracting and retaining key talent?

At Lawjay Partners, we prioritise attracting and retaining key talent through competitive compensation and unique growth opportunities. We recognise that a competitive salary is crucial, but it is not the sole factor when it comes to talent retention. With that in mind, we have implemented a distinctive approach that allows associates to spend 30% of their working day on developing their own client networks. For the legal work that associates secure on their own, they receive a significantly generous portion of the generated fees – a practice that is not commonly offered by other firms. This not only motivates our team to expand their professional portfolios, but significantly boosts their potential earnings too. 

While many firms resorted to cutting salaries or downsizing during the covid-19 pandemic, Lawjay Partners took a different approach. Despite experiencing a dip in our income, I steadfastly committed to maintaining our lawyers’ salaries at their pre-pandemic levels. This decision stemmed from a deep understanding of the personal financial obligations that our team members faced – from mortgages to family care. It was more than just a financial decision; this stance sent the resounding message to our associates and partners that they are invaluable members of the Lawjay family, and that their wellbeing is a top priority.

By supporting personal and professional growth and ensuring stability in challenging times, we have nurtured an environment where talent flourishes. This has cultivated a strong sense of loyalty and commitment among our associates and partners, affirming Lawjay Partners as not just a place to work, but a place to build a lasting and rewarding career.

Given the rapid advancements in technology and globalisation, how do you see the trademark landscape evolving in the next five years?

As we navigate this rapidly changing trademark landscape, our focus at Lawjay Partners is squarely on the evolving nature of enforcement practices, especially in response to the shift from physical markets to the digital realm. Over the next five years, I anticipate that this focus will not only remain relevant but become even more critical.

In the past four years alone, we have observed a significant downturn in the sale of counterfeit goods in physical markets, with many infringers transitioning online. This shift has required a strategic pivot in how we approach trademark infringement, moving away from traditional surveillance and enforcement in physical spaces to deploying sophisticated online tactics. At Lawjay Partners, we have been at the forefront of this evolution, spearheading innovative strategies to effectively counter online infringement.

Our approach to online trademark enforcement begins with gathering substantial evidence of infringement and using advanced tools to estimate the sales volume of counterfeit goods. This process enables us to identify key offenders and allows our clients to focus legal action where it is needed most. Recognising our clients' diverse needs and budgetary constraints, we offer flexible and creative enforcement strategies, which are tailored to provide the most effective protection for their trademark rights in the digital realm.

As the digital marketplace expands, the complexities of trademark enforcement are set to increase. However, our firm’s commitment to innovation and our proven track record of combatting online infringement position us to navigate these evolving challenges. Our deep understanding of the digital landscape ensures that we remain at the cutting edge of trademark enforcement, able to protect our clients’ interests in a rapidly advancing global and technological environment.

What are the biggest challenges facing brand owners when it comes to enforcing trademarks in China, and how are you helping them to overcome these?

Enforcing trademarks in China presents a unique set of challenges, which primarily stem from the variation when it comes to application of the law and judgments across different jurisdictions. Despite the unified legal framework, brand owners often encounter inconsistencies in how similar cases are handled by different courts. This lack of predictability and consistency poses significant obstacles for effective trademark enforcement.

Additionally, some local courts have established their own IP policies. These can restrict the number of lawsuits that brand owners are permitted to file, and judges in these courts may aggressively push for settlements with infringers before allowing cases to proceed to litigation. This practice is aimed at reducing caseload, but unfortunately often results in brand owners having to lower their expectations for justice and remedy. The pressure to settle, coupled with administrative hurdles (eg, the arbitrary rejection of legal documents that are otherwise accepted in most other courts), creates additional barriers to filing lawsuits and effectively protecting IP rights.

At Lawjay Partners, our approach to overcoming these challenges is multifaceted and grounded in a deep understanding of the nuances and variations across China’s judicial landscape. We craft sophisticated litigation strategies tailored to the specifics of each case and tendencies of each jurisdiction. Our team is prepared to navigate these complexities and possesses the determination and expertise to escalate cases to the Supreme Court if necessary. By leveraging our extensive experience and willingness to pursue justice at the highest level, we ensure that our clients’ trademark rights are vigorously defended.

IP firms globally are exploring how AI tools can benefit their practice. What advice do you have for those trying to incorporate this rapidly evolving tech into their work?

For firms considering incorporating AI tools, my advice centres on leveraging this technology to optimise key aspects of their work.

First, the utilisation of AI in identifying relevant legal precedents is invaluable. Its ability to sift through extensive databases and extract pertinent case law can significantly expedite the research process, even in complex cases. This saves time and ensures that legal arguments are robust and well supported.

Moreover, AI’s role in analysing complex legal scenarios can provide practitioners with deeper insights and perspectives, which can be particularly beneficial for formulating strategies for challenging cases as it offers a level of depth that might not be feasible through manual analysis alone.

Additionally, for firms like ours that have a large international clientele, AI’s application in language translation is a game changer. Its ability to produce preliminary drafts of judgment translations and hearing reports is an efficient way to bridge communication gaps and enhance understanding between legal teams and their foreign clients.

The Supreme Court recently issued a new policy on the retrial of cases. How has this affected your practice?

The Supreme Court’s recent policy change on retrial has notably influenced our approach. Previously, retrials requested due to legal questions could be taken directly to the Supreme Court, while cases involving questions of fact had to return to the original provincial court. This often led to stalemates as provincial courts typically stood by their initial rulings, so the chances of a successful retrial were diminished.

The Supreme Court’s adjustment – allowing retrials involving factual disputes to be filed directly with it – introduces a fairer system for parties seeking justice. This development is significant for our practice and clients as it offers a more viable path to challenge provincial court decisions that may have overlooked crucial facts or legal interpretations.

For Lawjay Partners, this policy revision enhances our ability to navigate the legal system more effectively, particularly in complex cases where factual nuances are pivotal. This shift represents a significant stride toward a more just and equitable legal process for our clients, opening new avenues for the fair adjudication of complex cases.