On July 7, 2025, Charles Feng, a partner at our firm, the Director of the International Business Department and Head of the Digital Economy Law Center of Tahota, attended a thematic dialogue session between the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) as a representative of AmCham China. The meeting focused on key intellectual property issues, aiming to strengthen communication and exchange between regulatory authorities and foreign-invested enterprises operating in China. AmCham China is a non-profit, non-governmental organization representing nearly 1,000 foreign-invested enterprises conducting business in China. Its mission is to promote international trade and economic cooperation through policy advocacy, information sharing, and professional services.

That morning, Mr. Lu Pengqi, Deputy Commissioner of the CNIPA, Mr. Wang Peizhang, Director-General of the Department of IP Utilization and Promotion, and Ms. Yuan Qi, First-Level Inspector of the CNIPA Department of International Cooperation, attended the meeting. They provided in-depth responses and engaged in discussions regarding the issues raised by AmCham China members.

Mr. Michael Hart, President of the AmCham China, along with heads of intellectual property from several globally leading multinational corporations—including Qualcomm, Eli Lilly, Novartis, and Avanci—participated in the discussions.Mr. Feng from our firm, who contributed to the drafting of the AmCham China White Paper in both 2023 and 2024 as one of its principal authors, attended the meeting as a representative of the Chamber.

The meeting facilitated exchanges on key topics including the application of absolute grounds in trademark examination and registration, the protection of standard-essential patents (SEPs), and the pharmaceutical patent linkage system. Mr. Feng engaged in in-depth discussions with participating experts on the application and challenges of absolute grounds under trademark law, as well as SEP protection, drawing insights from his practical experience in handling representative cases.

The meeting served as an effective platform for government-enterprise communication on intellectual property policies, demonstrating the China National Intellectual Property Administration's (CNIPA) ongoing efforts to advance the development of a legalized, internationalized, and business-friendly regulatory environment. Our firm remains committed to upholding professional excellence, actively participating in the development of relevant institutional frameworks and policy dialogues, and contributing to the establishment of a fairer and more transparent intellectual property protection ecosystem.

Mr. Feng holds a Master’s degree in Law from Duke University in the United States and China Foreign Affairs University. He is a reputable IP and cyber law expert with substantial experience on intellectual property law, data protection law and anti-trust law, focusing on IP litigation, enforcement trademark and patent portfolio management, as well as cyber law related legal matters. Over the past twenty years, Mr. Feng has represented a large number of intellectual property cases in Chinese courts for many enterprises, including cases in the aspects of well-known trademark cognizance, copyright infringement, the verification and infringement of patent and trademark rights, trade secrets infringement, anti-unfair competition and anti-trust. Additionally, Mr. Feng provides legal advice on cybersecurity and data protection to various clients, possessing substantial experience in the cybersecurity, data compliance, and personal information protection. He is one of the early lawyers who has engaged in legal matters related to enterprises’ data security and protection, as well as cross-border data transfer.

Mr. Feng’s team consists of over ten lawyers and patent agents, who can provide clients with legal services in the fields of intellectual property, data protection, foreign investment, civil and commercial dispute resolution in Chinese, English, Japanese, French and Malay/Indonesian languages.