Personal description

Xiaoling Duan is a partner at Wanhuida Intellectual Property. She is one of the most experienced patent attorneys in the firm’s patent team. Her practice focuses on chemicals, chemical engineering, pharmaceuticals, materials science and the food industry.

Ms Duan has been practising in the patent field for more than 30 years. Before joining the firm, she worked for 12 years at the State Intellectual Property Office (the predecessor of the China National Intellectual Property Administration – CNIPA), where she served as a senior patent examiner and deputy director of an examination division from 1988 to 2000. She later joined private practice as a patent attorney, leading the chemical and bio department of China Patent Agent (HK) Ltd for over 10 years.

Ms Duan is well recognised by peers and clients for her expertise and abundant experience in the patent field, including patent filing and prosecution, re-examination, invalidation and litigation. She has been instrumental in an array of high-calibre cases and has led the firm’s patent team in obtaining many favourable decisions for clients. She remains active in contributing to China’s legislative developments and provides pertinent advice on these topics. She excels in advising clients, both at home and abroad, on formulating patent strategies and in providing comprehensive solutions to complicated cases.

Ms Duan is listed as one of the National Intellectual Property Leading Individuals by the CNIPA. She has also received accolades from various legal publications, including as Notable Practitioner for intellectual property in China by asialaw (2016-2021), Recommended Individual in the prosecution field by IAM Patent 1000 (2018-2023) and Recommended IP Lawyer by The Legal 500 (2015).

Ms Duan is a member of the executive council of the All-China Patent Attorneys Association (ACPAA). She is also a member of the AIPPI IP Office Practice and Procedure Committee and the AIPPI Membership Committee.