Qiang CEN had previously worked at another French intellectual property firm before joining our team in July 2014.
He advises on the acquisition, enforcement and strategic use of trademarks, designs, copyrights and domain names, particularly for Chinese clients operating in Europe and European clients active on the Chinese market.
Interventions and conferences
Speaker at the webinar “Trademark Updates in China – Combating Bad-Faith Filings”, part of the “China IP Updates” webinar series on Intellectual Property in China, 10 March 2022
Mathilde ESCUDIER worked as a lawyer during more than a year in a law firm in Paris, where she ensured the follow-up of files regarding trademarks, designs, domain names and unfair competition. She intervened in various fields like textile and jewellery, automotive press and food industry.
In our team since April 2013, she intervenes in the field of protection and defence of industrial property rights by providing consultancy services during availability searches and filing of applications. She is involved in management of rights, in the framework of oppositions or attack and defence litigations, as well as in drawing up contracts, in France and abroad.
She works notably with clients specialized in the fields of real estate, aesthetic care, childcare, and retail.
Complementary activities
Member of the “AI Tools and Law Firm Modernization” Commission of the CNCPI
Member of the Association of Trademark and Design Law Practitioners (APRAM)
Before joining our team in May 2016, Audrey DRUMMOND worked as a lawyer in several international firms in France and Singapore, practising in the areas of international contracts and intellectual property. She worked in various fields such as the telecommunications, information technology, music and TV industries.
Within LLR China Trademark, Audrey DRUMMOND provides legal advice in contracts, trademarks, domain names and copyright, most particularly for European clients doing business in China. Audrey DRUMMOND is also specialized in the drafting of contracts in French and in English (assignment, licence, co-existence, co-ownership, partnership and transfer of know-how contracts). Her international experience is an asset to support our clients’ specific needs relating to French, Chinese and Common Law.
Audrey DRUMMOND is also heavily involved in the management of the ChinePI.com blog, for which she has been an active member of the editorial committee and a regular contributor since 2016.
After 7 years of studying law in China, Shujie lived 6 years in Paris and obtained his Ph.D. in Law from University Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne. He has published high-quality articles on intellectual property issues in French, English and Chinese in international, French and Chinese journals. He has also participated in numerous conferences on Intellectual Property issues.
Interventions & conferences
- Participating in the Franco-Chinese IP Day in Beijing (9 November 2023)
Complementary Activities
Publications:
- Chinese Trademark Law from the Perspective of International Treaties, Edition A. Pedone, 2025, Paris (English version to appear in December 2025 with Springer)
- How Are Unregistered Trademarks Protected in China? in IIC – International Review of intellectual Property and Competition Law, 2013, Munich
- La nouveauté comme condition de brevetabilité en droit chinois, in Propriété industrielle, 2013, Paris
- Sale of product as disclosure of invention in Chinese patent law, ZHI SHI CHAN QUAN (Intellectual Property), 2012.vol.2 ,Beijing
- La détermination de la divulgation en ligne avec les preuves électroniques, ZHI SHI CHAN QUAN (Propriété intellectuelle), 2011, Beijing
- La mise en oeuvre des décisions de l’ORD de l’OMC en matière de propriété intellectuelle par les pays en développement, Version française : Forum 2005 de la Société Européenne du Droit International, Genève ; Version chinoise : Global Law Review, 2006, Beijing
After high level studies in both countries, Xin YUAN received his degrees in China (Master from Southwest Jiaotong University) and in France (Engineer from l’École Centrale de Lyon).
Xin YUAN then began his career in ZTE Corporation in the field of telecommunication. He worked there as a project director, in charge of international telecommunication projects and relations between the Chinese supplier and its European and African clients. His major clients were France Telecom and Sentel Telecom.
Xin YUAN joined LLR China’s patent team in 2014, where he gained experience of patent proceedings in China and various foreign countries. LLR China’s patent team became LLR China Patent in 2016, and in 2023 became part of the international department of the Chinese law firm Easytimes IP, which specializes exclusively in intellectual property.
Xin YUAN is a patent engineer in Easytimes IP’s international department. He drafts and files patent applications for inventions, utility models and designs in China. He also follows up grant procedures in China and the rest of the world (particularly including Europe, France, United States, Japan, India and South Korea) and conducts free-to-operate studies.
He is involved in a wide range of technical fields, such as Information Technology, Telecommunication, Mechanical, etc.
Sophie McDADE joined LLR in 2012. After graduating from the CEIPI in 1993, she started her career in Canada, where she qualified as a Canadian and US patent attorney. In 1997, she moved to Scotland, playing an active role in the international development of a British firm. The pan-European dimension of this firm enabled her to acquire in particular the national professional qualifications to pratice as a British, French and European patent attorney. Her technical expertise in drafting patent applications (both in English and French), acquisition, defence and litigations (in particular oppositions and appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office) includes pharmaceutical and biochemical fields (especially biopolymers – tissue repair), immunology, as well as cell and gene therapies for the treatment of various diseases including cancers and hereditary diseases. Her expertise also extends to virology and in particular diagnosis of viral diseases, their treatment (antiviral drugs), vaccines as well as the use of viruses as vectors (phages). Sophie McDADE is also skilled in organic chemistry and straightforward mechanical inventions, especially in the field of prostheses and medical devices. She provides consultancy services to clients on their innovation development strategy and delivers in-house intellectual property awareness courses. She has conducted and supervised numerous due diligence reviews, carried out for acquisition or licensing of technologies. She has also carried out pan-European freedom-to-operate and infringement opinions.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS
- The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA)
- Franco-Scottish Business Club (FSBC)
COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES
- « Patents » presentation seminars (FSBC)
After graduated from Troyes University of Technology in France, Li LIANG joined a leading IP law firm in Beijing and worked there for nearly three years. She was engaged in handling patent applications and office actions and dealt with hundreds of cases of various types, such as Chinese national stage of PCT applications and Chinese applications under Paris Convention.
To strengthen her ties with France, Li LIANG joined LLR China’s patent team in June 2012, where she gained solid experience of patent proceedings in various countries and familiarized herself with Intellectual Property cases related to European, American, Japanese, Indian patents, etc. This patent team became LLR China Patent in 2016, and in 2023 became part of the international department of the Chinese law firm Easytimes IP, which specializes exclusively in intellectual property. Li LIANG is a member of this international department.
Li LIANG’s practice focuses on the technical fields of electrics and mechanics, such as computer hardware and software, semiconductor technology, telecommunication, data processing, medical device, automotive, hydrogen, aviation or else household appliances. Most of her clients are multinational companies, who have been very enthusiastic about her services.
After an entrepreneurial experience in developing mobile applications, Etienne GABELLA has chosen to work with LLR as a patent engineer.
He then became a European and French Patent Attorney.
He works with companies of all sizes, start-ups and individuals. He drafts patent applications and follows up domestic and foreign grant procedures. He conducts as well freedom-to-operate studies. Moreover, he provides advice and assistance in all matters relating to the protection of inventions and counterfeiting.
His main fields are software protection and telecommunications, including artificial intelligence and digital imaging, as well as mechanical engineering, particularly in the automotive and aerospace industries
After completing his final-year internship within the Industrial Property Department of a company specialised in in vitro diagnostics, Michaël AFONSO graduated from the CEIPI and has been practising as a patent engineer since November 2015.
He advises companies of all sizes and is primarily involved in drafting and filing patent applications in French and English, handling grant proceedings in France and abroad, managing opposition proceedings, and providing advisory services such as freedom-to-operate studies and validity analyses.
His main areas of expertise include mechanics, biotechnology and biochemistry. He handles patent matters in the automotive industry, biology and biochemistry, as well as nebulisation devices.
Complementary activities
- Member of GRAPI
- Member of the French AIPPI Group
- Member of the Training Commission of the CNCPI
After completing his end of study internship in the firm, Aurélien Barety decided to continue working with LLR as a patent engineer.
He assists small, medium and large companies. He writes patent applications and defends them during grant procedures, in France and abroad. He is specialized in mechanics and material science.
