Christopher Woods, a founding partner of our New York office and a co-leader of our Asia Practice Team, is based in Kilpatrick Townsend’s New York office. He has nearly twenty-five years of experience in representing and counseling U.S. and European clients who have business interests or commercial disputes relating to intellectual property in Greater China, and in acting for Asia-based clients with interests and disputes in the U.S. and Europe.

Mr. Woods lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years as a locally-admitted IP attorney. He represented many of the world’s top technology companies in defense of their patents and trade secrets, and several of the world’s top 10 brand owners in dispute resolution matters (court actions, administrative actions, arbitrations and mediations) throughout the region. He also represented a number of significant companies in commercial transactions such as the acquisition or licensing of IP rights, and the analysis of a broad range of IP rights when listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He co-authored a popular textbook in the early days of the opening up of the China market entitled “Technology Transfer in the PRC.”

Mr. Woods now splits his time between Kilpatrick Townsend’s New York and Shanghai offices, also spending time in London and Hong Kong. He continues to represent top 10 global brand owners in Greater China, now perhaps the world’s strongest market for consumer goods. He is involved in the creation, protection and exploitation of IP rights in many industries and works with clients who are new to the China market and those who have a well-developed presence in the market. Although his primary focus is on dispute resolution (anti-counterfeiting, IP infringement and licensing disputes) and particularly on international arbitration between foreign corporations and Chinese entities, he also works on the IP aspects of commercial and corporate transactions, and a growing focus on public procurement issues.

In addition to practicing as a Hong Kong and New York attorney, Mr. Woods is also licensed to practice in the United Kingdom. As part of his global practice he is therefore able to work with a growing number of Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong corporations as they expand their businesses and encounter disputes in Europe and the U.S.

Mr. Woods has been recognized repeatedly as one of the top 20 trademark lawyers in the U.S. by World Trademark Review and in 2016 it noted that “Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is a premier trademark group in the United States with an incredible bench including experienced professionals with deep knowledge of all relevant substantive areas. The highly regarded Woods leads the Asia practice.” Mr. Woods has received the prestigious Burton Award for excellence in legal writing. He has been recognized several times by: AsiaLaw as a Leading Lawyer in Asia; by the Euromoney Guide to the World’s Leading Trademark Practitioners, by The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers; by the International Who’s Who of Trademark Lawyers; and by the LegalMedia Group China Guide. Mr. Woods has been named an “IP Star” in 2017 and the four years immediately preceding by Managing Intellectual Property magazine. In July 2013, Kilpatrick Townsend was named by Who’s Who Legal as one of the world’s most highly regarded trademark firms, and Mr. Woods was featured as one of the globally recognized practitioners in the firm. In 2014, the firm was recognized in the Who’s Who Legal 100 as one of the world’s top 100 firms. Mr. Woods was recognized as one of its leading practitioners and it was noted that clients praised his “accessibility, flexibility and originality” and it was also noted that he is especially sought after by Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong brands seeking to expand globally.