Our IP practice in China - Freshfields

We offer not just reach but also
real depth of expertise
Examples of our recent
IP experience in China.
These should give you a flavour of
the types of matters we take on
and how we handle them:
PepsiCo in its strategic alliance
with Tingyi-Asahi
When PepsiCo, the world’s second-largest
food and beverage company, wanted
to form a strategic alliance with one
of its largest counterparts in China,
Tingyi‐Asahi Beverages, it turned to us. The
IP and commercial aspects were central
to this deal. PepsiCo swapped its China
bottling operations for an equity stake
in Tingyi-Asahi Beverages. If approved by
regulators, Tingyi-Asahi Beverages will
become the master franchise bottler for
PepsiCo’s branded non-alcoholic beverages
in China and will be granted exclusive
rights to manufacture and distribute
all of PepsiCo’s signature non-alcoholic
beverages, including Pepsi, 7Up, Gatorade
and Tropicana, boosting PepsiCo’s platform.
This was a truly landmark deal in the China
market and was awarded China Business
Law Journal’s 2011 Deal of the Year in the
category of foreign direct investment.
The deal showcases our unmatched ability
to structure and execute complex crossborder
and cross-cultural franchise and
branding deals. It is also a great illustration
of the breadth of our IP practice in China,
and of the benefits of Freshfields’ broad
international platform and strength in all
key practice areas. We worked closely with
colleagues in our corporate, antitrust, tax
and dispute resolution departments from
our Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, New York
and London offices to bring off this deal.
Dyson in a patent and copyright
infringement action in Hong Kong
Dyson has an enviable reputation for
innovation. Its vacuum cleaners and
other household appliances are protected
by more than 700 granted patents and
over a thousand patent applications.
However, when it brought out its Air
Multiplier bladeless fan to widespread
acclaim, it almost immediately faced
a major counterfeiting threat from
low-cost manufacturers in China.
That was bad enough, but when a major
and previously reputable high-street
retailer in Hong Kong began selling a
high‐quality copy, Dyson’s whole reputation
for innovation and unique product
features began to be called into question
on blogs and chat sites in the territory.
So when we received the call from the
UK late one evening in 2011, we leapt into
action. Our client had just learnt that its
first patent for the Air Multiplier would
issue in Hong Kong a few days later, so we
had to act fast. After a few weeks gathering
evidence and putting the submissions
together, two hearings (and very little sleep),
Freshfields had secured a rare interim patent
and copyright injunction at the High Court
in Hong Kong to block further marketing
and sales of the infringing product.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer llp
Create, protect and maximise your IP
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