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Tell us a little about your practice and what areas are busy for you right now.To what extent has your work flow been affected by the recent changes brought by the third amendment?If it has been affected，which changes have had the biggest impact on your practice and why?

Longan Law Firm was founded in 1992 as one of the first privately owned legal partnerships in China.Our team is comprised of 300 attorneys across China.Our offices are strategically located in Beijing，Shanghai，Shenzhen，Shenyang and Guangzhou，the pinnacle cities of international business and finance in China.In addition we have formed alliances with law firms in several countries such as Japan，France，Germany，the U.S.and many more.Our position as a truly Chinese law firm has several benefits for our international clients who use our law firm as a direct and effective method to securing their interest in the Chinese marketplace.Thus we work closely with domestic as well as international clients who take advantage in our ability to develop and foster innovative legal structures for a wide spectrum of business transactions including，but not limited to capital markets，private equity，project finance，mergers and acquisitions，corporate，intellectual property，inward and outward investment，taxation and insolvency.

All our practice areas keep us busy but it is safe to say that our IP group is the busiest within our firm and constantly growing，in particular our IP Litigation team.We see it as a sign of success that so many organisations come to us with their IP issues，of which we see more and more.

The fact that the third amendment is a recent development and that generally speaking the amendment will have a greater impact on the owners’rights as opposed to us lawyers means that it is still early days to comment on the effects of this amendment.We will see in the near future how trademark，patent and copyright owners will respond to the third amendment and in turn we will then see how our work will be affected.

The fact of the matter is that IP is still very much a fresh topic in China，compared to other countries.It’s only since the early 1980s that China saw the implementation of the modern IP system.The biggest impact however was when China joined the WTO in 2001，which meant bringing our(Chinese IP)laws in line with the standards set out by the WTO.As you can imagine，a large proportion of our time was spent adjusting the new laws and advising clients.

Which changes brought by the third amendment do you think will have the most affect on your practice in the medium to long term?Have any of the changes brought by the third amendment had less impact than you though they would have?

Prior to the third amendment the standard of laws were a lot lower and we primarily dealt with domestic issues and companies.

China’s legal system and business environment underwent a major revamp with the implementation of the new laws，especially since joining the WTO.The openness and increase in international cooperation means that more foreign firms have the confidence and opportunity to invest and expand into China and for us that means more foreign clients.We have seen how our client base has expanded from mostly national companies to both national as well as international corporations and we expect that in the near future we will have to work more and more in English.The stronger laws mean that(foreign)companies can，via the civil court，request charges against infringers and launch private prosecution to enforce their rights thus that we have seen a rise in demand for IP litigators.

Although the third amendment has been a success overall and we have seen an increase in demand for our services，generally speaking however the impact hasn’t been as major as expected.This is primarily due the bureaucracy attached to the laws.Plaintiffs need to gather a lot of evidence，often hard to get.Furthermore plaintiffs will find that they will often not gain anything physically such as payments，at most they might recoupany losses made.

Have there been recent changes to the law other than the third amendment that have had a significant impact on your practice?If so，could you tell us a little about them and their significance?

The Ministry of Justice recently implemented a number of regulations relating to trademark，patent and other IP issues.The difference between these regulations and laws is that regulations are a lot more detailed and more often used by attorneys.As I mentioned earlier，China’s IP laws are constantly developing the government and supreme court always look for ways to improve our legal system.Obviously they do this to protect the people but also to attract foreign investment，that’s why IP laws play a vital role here in China.With the enforcement of IP law and regulations，China is hoping that its economy will not only rely on traditional low skilled，labour intensive industries but instead move towards high-tech and R＆D.

This constant development has a major impact on our practice as our attorneys spend a large time studying and implementing these new regulations.

Has the global financial crisis impacted on your IP practice?In your view，have companies been more eager to assert their IP rights as a result of the economic downturn?If so，has there been a spike in IP litigation work?

Of course，however we haven’t suffered that much to be honest and certainly not as badly as other industries.Also，many law firms are kept very busy due to the recession.M＆A，bankruptcy，employment and of course IP are all areas in high demand currently.

The economic downturn has certainly made companies more eager to assert their IP rights.They want to make sure that although the current situation is good，their IP is protected for when things pick up again.However，I believe that generally IP should not be too closely linked to the financial crisis.The IP industry always provides opportunities and furthermore the industry is constantly rising，regardless of the crisis.