History of Liu, Shen & Associates

In late 1992, Mr. Xiaoping Deng, the ex-leader of modern China, launched a famous speech when he carried out an inspection in South China. From then on, the Chinese government has accelerated the progress of economic reform within China and promoted the opening-up policy to a great extent. One of the far-reaching impacts of the dynamic progress was to propel the reform in the current legal system of China. Meanwhile, the Chinese government embarked on reforming the constructing system of the Chinese law firms, including taking steps to establish private practice of patent agencies in order to seek harmonization with international conventions. Consequently, Liu, Shen & Associates, as the first privately owned patent agency in China, was established in Beijing on 10 March 1993. The Chief Justice of Chinese Supreme Court of the time, Mr. Jianxin Ren and the Director General of WIPO, Dr. Bogsh of the time both sent congratulatory letters to the Firm, celebrating the spring-up of newly structured patent agency in China.

The Firm is named after two founders, Mr. Liu Gushu and Mr. Shen Yaozeng, both of whom are prestigious roles in the field of Intellectual Property (IP) in China. Mr. Liu is the propellent and the witness of the establishment of Chinese patent system, and the founder of “China Patent Agency (Hong Kong) Ltd.” as well. Mr. Liu has made dramatic contribution to the establishment and improvement of Chinese patent system. Mr. Shen is the ex Deputy Director General of Chinese Patent Office, who is an expert in the field of patent examination and has played important role in the co-operation of Chinese patent professionals with their colleagues worldwide. The other founders of Liu, Shen & Associates are all among the first group of qualified patent attorneys in China, who also experienced and witnessed the development of Chinese patent system.

In Year 1995, Liu, Shen & Associates was registered at the China Ministry of Justice, becoming a certified law firm. Liu, Shen & Associates, besides providing services with respect to patent and trademark affairs as a patent and trademark agency, can also provide comprehensive legal services (including judicial proceedings) in every aspect of IP field.

As a paradigm of the first-established privately-owned law firms, the development of Liu, Shen & Associates is also a miniature of the developing progress of the patent system in China. The establishment and development of the Firm has propelled forward the reform of Chinese patent agencies. In Year 2002, the Chinese government made a decision that all agencies, including patent agencies, should cut ties with governmental organization and become private practices. From then on, the Chinese agencies started proceeding with reforms. While Liu, Shen & Associates benefited greatly from the Decision as a pioneer in the reform. Today, as one of the largest law firms specialized in IP field, Liu, Shen & Associates has gained prominent credits in the IP field worldwide and is stepping stably towards the first-class law firms in the world.