Mr. Steve Zhao is a partner at the Beijing office of GEN Law Firm, with 20 years of practice experience. He specializes in complex litigation involving trademarks, copyright, new plant varieties, trade secrets, data rights, artificial intelligence, and emerging forms of intellectual property. He has handled a number of landmark cases that have significantly shaped China’s IP jurisprudence, and many of his cases have been selected by the Supreme People’s Court and provincial high courts as annual model cases.

Mr. Zhao has secured pivotal victories for clients in high-value and pioneering disputes. In the “Panpan” trademark case, he represented Assa Abloy and obtained a RMB 100 million award—the highest damages ever granted by a Chinese court to a foreign trademark owner. In China’s first lawsuit over data scraping and resale, he successfully represented Sina Weibo and won RMB 20 million in damages, setting a leading judicial precedent on the boundaries of data protection and lawful circulation. In the nation’s first case concerning whether AI-generated text-to-image outputs disqualify as works under copyright law, he provided critical guidance that clarified the legal boundaries in this emerging area. He has also acted in multiple disputes exceeding RMB 100 million concerning the protection of new plant varieties and trade dress, which have had wide-ranging influence across the industry.

A pioneer at the intersection of law and artificial intelligence, Mr. Zhao chairs his firm’s AI & IT Committee and is active in academic and professional exchanges, frequently lecturing at leading universities and industry forums on the responsible use of AI in the legal profession and IP protection.

Mr. Zhao also plays an active role in the IP community. He serves as a member of INTA’s Global Advisory Council and as an expert of the China Anti-Infringement and Anti-Counterfeiting Innovation Strategic Alliance. His professional expertise and market influence have earned him consistent recognition as a leading IP litigator by Chambers, World Trademark Review (WTR 1000), The Legal 500, and LEGALBAND.

Expert of the Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Infringement Alliance

Deputy Secretary-General of the Trademark Law Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association

Member of the Legislation and Regulation Committee of the International Trademark Association

Member of the Global Advisory Council of the International Trademark Association

Member of the Copyright Law Research Committee of the Beijing Entertainment Law Society

LexisNexis ELITE Award Individual Award Winner，2025

Chambers Great China Region-Intellectual Property: Litigation, 2024

LEGALBAND-A Client's Guide: Top Ranked Lawyers, 2022-2024

WIPR Insights-China PRC Trademarks Rankings, 2023

WTR 1000-the World's Leading Trademark Professionals, 2018-2023

Legal 500-Recommended Lawyer, 2018-2019, 2023-2024

Power-nation Institute-Top 10 Intellectual Property Consultant, 2023

LEGAL GURU CLUB, Legal Hall of Fame-Best Lawyers Recommended by GC, 2023

ALB-Top 15 IP Lawyers, 2022

IPLEAD-the 3rd Top 50 China Leading IP Lawyers, 2023

Asia IP- Rising Star, 2021

LEGALBAND-Client Choice-Top 15 IP Versatile Practitioners, 2021

LEGALBAND-China Top 15 Lawyers: Consumer and Retail, 2021

Power-nation Institute-Best Trademark Litigator of the Year，2017

• Represented ASSA ABLOY Pan Pan v. Xin Pan Pan in a trademark infringement and unfair competition dispute, in which punitive damages were applied and the defendant was imposed RMB 100 million as damages to the plaintiff, which was selected as the Blue Book on the status of judicial protection of intellectual property rights in Jiangsu courts.

• Represented A.O. Smith v. Smales in a trademark infringement and unfair competition dispute, in which A.O. Smith was recognized as a well-known trademark and awarded RMB 5.65 million in damages.

• Represented Denmark ROCKWOOL International A/S, a famous European stone wool insulation material brand, to obtain administrative recognition as a well-known trademark.

• Represented Hugo Boss, an internationally renowned fashion brand, in administrative and civil litigation against an infringer for more than ten years; also fully represented Hugo Boss in its trademark opposition, invalidation and other prosecution matters in China.

• Represented the famous Chinese tea brand "Xiaotan Tea" in administrative and civil litigation to defend its trademark distinctiveness.

• Represented ANKER, a famous consumer electronics brand, in an unfair competition lawsuit against a trademark infringer and won the case, which was awarded as one of the top ten typical cases of unfair competition by Shenzhen Intermediate Court in 2021.

• Represented Huan Qiu Online School in arbitration and trademark infringement litigation against its former partner in a trademark licensing contract

• Represented Ke.com/Lianjia in an unfair competition lawsuit to defend its data rights

• Represented Sina in an unfair competition lawsuit to defend its data rights

• Represented Chr. Hansen, the world's leading probiotic brand to take legal action to stop counterfeiting and defend the distinctiveness of their previous trademarks.

• Represented The Macallan, a leading whiskey brand, in a trademark infringement action and brand protection strategy.

• Represented Honeywell in a trademark infringement and unfair competition action

• Represented ARRI, a leading German manufacturer of cinematography equipment, in filing trademark applications for color combination trademark and in filing litigating against counterfeiting.

• Represented leading food ingredient manufacture Ligao, in an unfair competition action to protect its "Blue Streak" trade dress.

• Represented BASF in trademark oppositions and invalidation actions.

• Represented MLB in trademark oppositions and invalidation actions.

• Represented China Overseas Property in trademark infringement litigation and invalidation proceedings to protect its trademark rights.