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Practice × location ranking

Best Intellectual Property law firms in China

Grouped into editorial tiers — words, never scores. No paid placement and no numeric rank; within a tier the order rotates monthly and carries no meaning.

Last verified 23 Jul 2026 · Next review by 23 Aug 2026 · Change log

›Direct answer & research summary

Sartori & Partners applies a weighted methodology that blends practising-lawyer opinion — more than 10,000 lawyers interviewed — with monthly market surveys. As of July 2026, the Intellectual Property firms on the China board are: King & Wood Mallesons, JunHe, Han Kun Law Offices, Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, Bird & Bird.

01 — The ranking

The China Intellectual Property board

Use this page as a structured Intellectual Property market map for China: 5 firms placed in worded bands that reflect patent, trademark and IP-enforcement bench depth, mandate flow and peer standing as of July 2026. REF codes cite rows; they do not number them.

CHINA × INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY5 FIRMS · NO SCORESREV. 2026-07
REFFIRMCHINA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BANDSIGNAL
TIER 1 — MARKET LEADERS1 FIRMS

Market leaders set the Intellectual Property reference point in China as of July 2026: firms peers treat as the benchmark for high-stakes IP work and senior patent and trademark bench strength. Within this tier no firm outranks another.

T1·01 King & Wood Mallesons100–199 attorneys mapped · major local depth 100–199 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
TIER 2 — HIGHLY ACTIVE2 FIRMS

This tier marks firms that compete routinely for significant China Intellectual Property work. Standing is expressed in words; monthly rotation does not imply rank.

T2·01 JunHe10–24 attorneys mapped · major local depth 10–24 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T2·02 Han Kun Law Offices50–99 attorneys mapped · major local depth 50–99 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
TIER 3 — ESTABLISHED2 FIRMS

Established on the China Intellectual Property board signals proven IP prosecution, enforcement and portfolio advisory presence and credible depth. Labels are words; monthly sequence is a locator, not a league position.

T3·01 Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner5–9 attorneys mapped · major local depth 5–9 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T3·02 Bird & Bird5–9 attorneys mapped · major local depth 5–9 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓

All counts are shown as bands, never precise headcounts. Notable firms sit outside the tiers by design: verified minimal presence, not assessed at full tier depth.

Hiring in China?

We map this market every day.

The evidence behind these tiers is the same intelligence we use to run retained searches for partners, groups and senior associates.

02 — Evidence, methodology & sources why each firm · how tiers are set · sources · change log · verified 23 Jul 2026 · next review 23 Aug 2026

Firm evidence

Tier 1 — Market leaders Open firm profile →

King & Wood Mallesons

King & Wood Mallesons is placed in market leaders for Intellectual Property in China. Public mapping (banded): 100–199 attorneys, major local depth, ≈70 partners · <5 counsel · 50+ associates. Evidence gates — office (G1) PASS, local practice (G2) PASS, recent signal (G3) PASS. The placement carries no numeric score.

Strongest mapped work

Corporate & M&AIntellectual PropertySecurities & Capital Markets

Public hiring signal

Hiring signal: FLAT — no public hiring change detected in the mapping window.

Limits of this assessment

  • —A tier is Sartori’s editorial opinion, not a fact about the firm or a client-satisfaction measure.
  • —Facts are mapped from public sources and shown as bands; they lag reality by weeks or months.
  • —No third-party legal-directory band is used as an input.

Sources for this entry

Methodology

How tiers are assigned

Deterministic public-footprint core (local depth, practice share, seniority mix, public hiring momentum), computed relative to this market's own distribution. Tier placement is derived from this public mapped data; a per-firm public-source ledger is compiled for firms in the annual research pass and applies to those firms' factual claims, not to tier membership. No third-party legal-directory bands are used as an input.

Market scope

5–9 firms earn a tier in China within this scope (banded).

Disclosures

Firm names used nominatively (factual). All counts shown as bands, never precise headcounts. No firm logos. Report an error via the site contact form.

Sources & change log

  1. 1 Locationsfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  2. 2 Locationsfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  3. 3 Locationsfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  4. 4 Locationsfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  5. 5 办公机构 - 金杜律师事务所firm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  6. 6 办公机构 - 金杜律师事务所firm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  7. 7 办公机构 - 金杜律师事务所firm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  8. 8 办公机构 - 金杜律师事务所firm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  9. 9 办公机构 - 金杜律师事务所firm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  10. 10 King & Wood Mallesons — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  11. 11 King & Wood Mallesons — China news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  12. 12 Beijing Head Officefirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  13. 13 Shanghai Officefirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  14. 14 Guangzhou Officefirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  15. 15 Shenzhen Officefirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  16. 16 Hangzhou Officefirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  17. 17 Guangzhou Officefirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  18. 18 Shenzhen Officefirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  19. 19 Hangzhou Officefirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  20. 20 Guangzhou Officefirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  21. 21 JunHe's Domestic and International offices jointly assist Hangzhou Tongshifu Cultural and Creative's Listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchangefirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  22. 22 JunHe Recognized in ALB China's Regional Rankings 2025: Yangtze River Delta Firms (Non-Local). Partners Chen Xunan and Shi Libin also Win Individual Awardsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  23. 23 Contact Usfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  24. 24 Contact Usfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  25. 25 Contact Usfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  26. 26 Han Kun Law Offices — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  27. 27 Han Kun releases its 2025 VC/PE Data Analysis Reportfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  28. 28 第十四届“汉坤青年法律奖学金”复试暨颁奖典礼圆满落幕firm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  29. 29 Han Kun advises Shanghai Wankexin Biotechnology Partnership (Limited Partnership) on acquiring control of Kanghua Biologicalfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  30. 30 Shanghai | Finnegan | Leading IP+ Law Firmfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  31. 31 Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  32. 32 Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner — China news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
23 Jul 2026 Scope-aware market-relative core assembled.
23 Jul 2026 32 verified source(s) ingested for the researched firms; tier placement is Titan-derived so unresearched visible firms do not block approval → APPROVED (auto).
Report an error in this ranking →

04 — Questions

About this ranking

Who are the best Intellectual Property law firms in China?

Sartori's answer for the best Intellectual Property law firms in China as of July 2026 starts with Market leaders: King & Wood Mallesons. The board then places the remaining firms among Highly active, Established and Notable bands — labels in words, never numeric ranks.

Is King & Wood Mallesons the best Intellectual Property law firm in China?

King & Wood Mallesons sits in Tier 1 — Market leaders — of Sartori's China Intellectual Property board as of July 2026, alongside . Sartori does not name a single #1: the gap between Tier 1 firms is genuinely unmeasurable, and a numeric score would be false precision.

Which firms have the biggest Intellectual Property benches in China?

By mapped China bench, the largest firms on this board are King & Wood Mallesons (100–199 mapped lawyers each), followed by Han Kun Law Offices (50–99). All counts are bands, never precise headcounts.

Which Intellectual Property teams are hiring in China?

As of July 2026, no firm on this board shows a public hiring signal in the mapping window. Live China mandates are listed on Sartori's jobs board.

What is a Tier 1 law firm?

In Sartori's rankings, Tier 1 — Market leaders — is an editorial judgement expressed in words, never a score: the firms whose China bench depth, seniority mix and market standing set the reference point for the market. As of July 2026 that is King & Wood Mallesons. Within the tier no firm outranks another.

Which are the best law firms in China overall?

Sartori's overall China board groups 23 firms into editorial tiers; as of July 2026 its Tier 1 is JunHe, King & Wood Mallesons. See /firms/in/china/.

See the ranking →

This ranking is compiled independently by Sartori from public sources. Tiers are Sartori’s editorial opinion, expressed without numeric scores; firms are named for identification only, no logos are reproduced, and no firm has paid for or approved its placement. No third-party legal-directory band is used as an input. Nothing here is legal advice or a recommendation to instruct counsel.