29 January, 2017
Allen & Overy announces today the appointment of David Shen to its international IP practice. Leading the China IP and life sciences practices, he further builds on the ongoing investment in IP capability to meet global client need.
David brings a unique viewpoint on IP issues in China given his extensive background, particularly in the life sciences sector. He joins from AstraZeneca where he has worked since 2011, latterly as their General Counsel for China. David started his career in the US at Bayer Corporation as a research chemist with subsequent roles in the patent teams at Knoble & Yoshida LLC and AstraZeneca before moving to Shanghai to join Eli Lilly as their Asia regional IP Counsel. A native Mandarin speaker, David was admitted to the Bar in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark office.
David has a significant track record in patents and patent litigation as well as broader life sciences sector expertise in relation to regulatory and compliance making him a good fit with our existing China and global IP and as well as life sciences practices. In addition, through his in-house expertise, he will provide additional strategic insights to clients facing high profile disputes in China.
Partner and head of the global IP practice, Geert Glas, comments: “We are excited to have David join our global IP team. Clients increasingly demand a truly global offering of world class IP expertise and David’s appointment, alongside our recent hires in London, are part of our long-term global strategy to grow our IP platform. We are now one step closer to achieving this and to offering clients the depth and breadth of expertise where they need it.”
“As China’s place and role in the global economy has grown in importance, increasingly many global patent conflicts of a significant and strategic nature have an important China component. We are pleased to have been able to attract a practitioner of David’s calibre to join us in order to support clients in this critical jurisdiction. Furthermore, his insights from conducting IP ligation in-house will offer clients additional value and are a clear market differentiator” Victor Ho, Asia Pacific head of the life sciences sector, added.
This announcement follows the appointment of Mark Heaney, David Stone, Marc Döring and Marjan Noor as recent hires to the global IP practice, resulting in a 20 strong partner practice globally.
