Devan Shao

Practice Areas

MR. SHAO SPECIALIZES IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW AND IP ENFORCEMENT. HIS MAIN PRACTICE AREAS ALSO INCLUDE GENERAL COMMERCIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION (LITIGATION AND ARBITRATION).

Career

Mr. Shao joined Fangda in 2005.

Personal

Honors and Awards

“Top 10 Law Talents of China – 2017”, CLECSS

“Top 10 E-sports Lawyers of China – 2019”, Legalband

“Firm of Media, Entertainment & Sport – 2019”, China Business Law Journal

“Media Law: Tier 1 – 2020”, Media Law International

Experience

Film, television, livestream and music

Represented a world-renowned entertainment giant in its IP lawsuit in China against the producer and the publisher of a Chinese copycat movie

Represented Tsuburaya Production in its series of copyright infringement and anti-unfair competition lawsuits against UMC and Bluearc concerning Ultraman images

Represented NYSE-listed Huya Live in its defamation lawsuit against its direct competitor in China and successfully obtained a preliminary injunction to stop the competitor from filing a complaint with an application distribution platform, which is the first and only preliminary injunction of its kind issued in China

Represented zhibo.tv in its new type of anti-unfair competition litigation against CNTV concerning internet broadcast of international sporting events

Represented a media corporation in its lawsuit against a film group over the operation of a famous movie channel in Guangdong Province

Advised IMAX and other entertainment and film groups on importing and distributing foreign films in China and on other related compliance matters

Advised the Motion Picture Association of America on anti-piracy and IP enforcement for films and other audiovisual works

Advised numerous entertainment and film companies on general IP issues and on transactions concerning the importation of IP and the license, production and distribution of animation, television and motion pictures

Advised corporations and music producers on production, distribution, and dissemination of music works

Advised a music and media group on a transaction concerning the license and transfer of nearly 10,000 songs and on ownership due diligence for related IP

Video games

Represented a world-leading US-based interactive entertainment and video game company in its IP lawsuit in China filed against the publisher of an infringing movie (selected by the Supreme Court as one of the 50 Representative IP Protection Cases of China)

Represented a globally renowned developer and publisher of entertainment video games in its IP lawsuit in China over merchandise infringement

Advised Ubisoft on the importation, publication, operation and protection of video games in China

Represented WeMade in the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards rendered by foreign arbitration institutions and in disputes against game publishers

Advised WeMade on actions against pirated video games and infringing video games in China and on other legal matters

Represented the publishers of popular mobile games “The Warship Girls” and “The Girl’s Frontline” in highly media-covered lawsuits against game producers

Represented Yoozoo in its civil litigation and administrative complaints against another famous Chinese video game company concerning video game copyright infringement

Represented and defended Moonton as its lead counsel in its copyright infringement and anti-unfair competition lawsuits against Tencent and Riot Games in multiple jurisdictions including China, US, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia

Defended Jump, Jiaoyimao.com, bilibili and other interactive and entertainment companies in IP lawsuits filed by Tencent concerning video games it produced or published

Provided comprehensive legal services to mainstream gaming companies on video game development, publication, operation and protection and on IP actions against unauthorized plug-ins and private servers

Advised The Void on the importation, introduction and operation in China of its new interactive entertainment system

Sports

Represented the world-renowned sports agency SECA in its lawsuit against a world champion athlete in a dispute arising out of an agency contract

Provided comprehensive legal services to China Golf Dragons on its exclusive operation of the China Tour regular season

Represented a famous sports and culture company in its lawsuit against a video sharing website concerning internet broadcasting of international sporting events

Provided comprehensive legal services to the league organizer on its establishment, launch, operation, IP protection and license-granting of the e-sports professional league Mobile Legends Bang Bang

Advised clubs and teams in various e-sports professional leagues on staff and player management, profit allocation, club operation, branding and protection, and other legal issues

Advised a primary sponsor on competition changes and benefits and interests of sponsorship of FIFA Club World Cup and other legal issues

Other IP cases

Represented foreign IP holders in various IP legal actions in China, including trademark enforcement, anti-counterfeiting, anti-piracy, anti-unfair competition, patent enforcement, patent invalidation, trade secret protection and defamation

Defended foreign companies and foreign invested companies in bad faith trademark infringement lawsuits filed by trademark squatters in China

Advised and represented enterprises in trade secret enforcement

Defended companies in various industries in copyright infringement actions launched by photo gallery companies, application software developers and font software developers

Languages Spoken

-English

-Chinese

-Shanghainese

Education