Beijing

Steptoe's Beijing office, which is licensed as a registered foreign law firm in the People's Republic of China, is a key component along with our Hong Kong office of our Asia/Pacific practice. Lawyers in our Beijing office are committed to helping Chinese, US, and other clients conduct business in the most efficient way possible, while managing the unique risks that arise in connection with investment, trade, and business. We advise clients on international regulatory compliance, US and EU trade remedies proceedings, CFIUS, intellectual property, cyber security and data privacy, corporate governance, structuring investments and market access, and US, UK, and EU anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, economic sanctions, and export controls. 

The Beijing team assists clients with carrying out due diligence and investigations related to anti-corruption, sanctions, and other international regulatory compliance matters, US and UK litigation, international arbitration and resolution of business disputes through mediation and ADR. Our lawyers, including a leading intellectual property practitioner, serve and represent multinational and Chinese companies in US intellectual property proceedings, including patent and trade secrets litigation, and US Section 337 investigations before the USITC. 

Our Beijing team often working closely with Steptoe attorneys throughout the region and firm, provides a unique range of services: 

• International Regulatory Compliance
• US Intellectual Property Litigation
• US Section 337 Investigations
• Anti-Corruption and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance and transactional advice
• Economic Sanctions and Export Controls Compliance and transactional advice
• Internal/Foreign Corrupt Practices Act/UK Bribery Act Investigations
• Anti-Corruption and Sanctions/Export Controls Due Diligence
• International Trade
• World Bank and other Multilateral Development Bank Investigations
• Cross-border Litigation, International Arbitration, Mediation, and ADR involving Mainland China
• CFIUS Advice and Related Government Relations Matters 

Our Beijing office and practitioners have been recognized by leading legal publications, and honored with numerous awards for our international regulatory compliance and trade practices. Our Beijing-based lawyers have extensive experience in a variety of practice areas, including international trade, internal investigations, international regulatory compliance, US intellectual property disputes, cross-border litigation, international arbitration, and financial compliance among others. With fully bilingual experienced practitioners, our Beijing-based team works seamlessly with the firm's lawyers in Hong Kong, the United States, and Europe in vigorous representation of multinational and Chinese companies before government agencies, and successful advocacy in litigation and arbitrations.

US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, UK Bribery Act, Anti-Corruption Compliance, Due Diligence, and Internal Investigations

Steptoe counsels companies doing business in China on the scope, meaning, and application of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and other anti-corruption laws, including the UK Bribery Act, as they relate to their Chinese operations. Our practice includes compliance advice and counseling, compliance risk assessments, development of compliance programs, and investigations and enforcement work. Our office has extensive experience conducting investigations in China, and we have conducted more than 20 full-scale internal investigations for US and multinational companies in China.

We are one of the few foreign law firms with fully bilingual compliance and investigations practitioners based in China. Our Beijing-based team works seamlessly with the firm's lawyers in Hong Kong, Washington, DC, London, and Brussels. Members of the team have successfully advised and represented both private and public companies in connection with China-focused and global investigations.

Intellectual Property

For most clients doing business in China, a key element in their investment strategy is protection of their intellectual property from infringement and misappropriation. Steptoe lawyers are experienced in all phases of intellectual property representations, including the evaluation, acquisition, licensing, transfer, and enforcement of intellectual property rights, including patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret rights. Lawyers in Steptoe's Beijing office have particular experience in intellectual property protection measures tailor-made for China.

The Steptoe team in Beijing is unique in that it has first-chair US litigation experience and decades of experience representing Chinese companies in US litigation. This includes patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and proceedings at the US Patent & Trademark Office (e.g. Inter Partes Reviews and other post-grant proceedings). The team has appeared in district courts throughout the United States, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the US International Trade Commission. Combining high level experience in US litigation with years of working with Chinese companies gives Steptoe the ability to provide cross-border litigation teams to handle the most difficult competitor litigation. Steptoe also coordinates multi-jurisdictional litigation that is increasingly important in the global marketplace. Chinese companies trust their most difficult cases with Steptoe.

International Trade

Steptoe has one of the largest and most experienced international trade practices in the world and has been at the center of the most high-profile and challenging trade disputes between the United States and China. Many of our lawyers have gained their experience and insight through senior US government service with the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative, as well as the Departments of State, Defense, Justice, and Treasury. Chambers Asia-Pacific has consistently named Steptoe's International Trade Group the market leader among international firms practicing in Asia. In addition to representing numerous companies throughout Asia in US and EU trade proceedings, we have substantial experience providing strategy advice to non-Chinese companies facing trade remedy investigations administered by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). We also have a strong record of success in advising companies regarding strategic arrangements to overcome trade and regulatory barriers arising from doing business in China.