With a focus on the technology industry, Shaobin Zhu advises on intellectual property (IP) (patent, trade secret, trademark, copyright, domain name) litigation in US district courts and Section 337 investigations at the US International Trade Commission (ITC), as well as client counseling, IP licensing and transfer, opinion work, patent prosecution, data privacy, open source software strategy, and international arbitration. Shaobin is admitted to practice in California, New York, and Washington only. He is co-head of the IP practice in China and head of China’s IP team.
Shaobin has helped dozens of Chinese clients successfully resolve their IP disputes in the United States. His experience encompasses all aspects of IP litigation, including working with clients to formulate litigation strategies, coordinating US and China teams to execute the strategies, and conducting patent validity and infringement analysis, technical discovery and production, depositions, expert reports and depositions, Markman hearings, briefing, motion hearings, trials, and settlement negotiations. In addition, Shaobin represents clients arbitrating legal disputes at international arbitration forums including China.
He guides clients through all stages of patent prosecution and invalidation in the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), including patent application preparation, responses to office actions of the USPTO, and administrative post-grant proceedings challenging the validity of disputed patents. In addition, Shaobin counsels clients in enforcing their IP rights to address counterfeiting activities and defending them against alleged counterfeits, including working with US Customs, using administrative and judicial proceedings, taking down counterfeiting products from websites, and reinstating products on ecommerce platforms.
Moreover, Shaobin advises clients on IP licensing and transfer, including negotiating terms and conditions, conducting IP due diligence, and drafting and reviewing IP licensing/transfer agreements. Shaobin further counsels clients on data privacy issues, including compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
Shaobin handles matters relating to a variety of technologies, including computer software, telecommunications, smartphones, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), semiconductors, video processing, internet television, LEDs, wearable devices, robotics, 3D printing, consumer electronics, and related electronics.
Shaobin is a frequent speaker at industry events and teaches in China on topics related to US IP litigation and prosecution strategy. He has taught a graduate course on US IP law at Renmin University of China Law School and Business School, and serves as a program professor at the University of Science and Technology of China School of Public Affairs and a guest professor at China Business Executives Academy, Dalian.
Before joining Morgan Lewis, Shaobin was a partner in the IP litigation practice of another global law firm. Early in his law career, he was as a judicial extern to Judge John C. Coughenour of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, where he recommended disposition, drafted legal memos, and proposed orders on a complex computer software patent case.
Shaobin also previously worked as a software engineer at Electronic Data System and Sabre Holdings, where he developed client/server, multitier, internet, and database-related software applications. From 1994 to 1996, he served as a legal official at Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office of China State Council, and helped harmonize the laws of Hong Kong and Macao with Chinese Basic Laws.
Recommended, Intellectual Property: Foreign Firms, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific: China (2024)
Recommended, TMT: Foreign Firms, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific: China (2024)
Recognized, Notable Practitioner – California, Managing Intellectual Property (2023, 2024)
The A-List China’s Elite 100 Lawyers (Foreign Firms), China Business Law Journal (2019–2022)
Recognized, Elite Patent Practitioner, IAM Global Leaders (2022–2024)
Recognized, IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals (2019–2024)
Recommended, Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters), The Legal 500 US (2020)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Intellectual Property, Law360 (2019)
Board Member, China Association of Invention (2016–present)
Board Member, Shenzhen AI Industry Association (2019–present)
Board Member, Shenzhen Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (2023–present)
Member, Legal Expert Database, Guangdong, Shanghai, and Ningbo Intellectual Property Protection Associations (2020–present)
Advisor, China Patent Office’s National Advisory Center for Overseas Intellectual Property Dispute Resolution (2019–present)
Member, International Law Expert Database, Hebei Province Council for the Promotion of International Trade (2019–present)
Member, Expert Database, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area International Intellectual Property Talent Port (2023–present)
International IP Expert, Zhuhai High-Tech Zone Intellectual Property Expert Think Tank (2023–present)
Arbitrator, Nanjing Arbitration Commission (2020–present)
Member, IP Expert Database, Changzhou University (2021–present)
Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
Member, Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area
Program Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China
Guest Professor, China Business Executives Academy, Dalian
Board Member, Seattle Chinese Bar Association
Member, California State Bar Association
Member, New York State Bar Association
Member, Washington State Bar Association