On September 20, 2022, Fangda Partners represented ChuanQi IP Co. (“ChuanQi IP”) as a licensor in the lawsuit that it launched against Shanghai Kingnet Network Co. (“Shanghai Kingnet”) and Zhejiang Huanyou Network Technology Co. (“Zhejiang Huanyou”) in the Shanghai High People’s Court. The Shanghai High People’s Court found in favor of ChuanQi IP, annulling an earlier decision taken by the court at first instance and ensuring that Shanghai Kingnet should bear joint and several liability for its wholly-owned subsidiary Zhejiang Huanyou’s debt of RMB480 million incurred under the licensing agreement for the online game Legend of Mir II.

The case involved a number of complex issues, including the situation of “excessive command and control” causing denial of corporate personality, the standard for certifying shareholder’s independence in a One Person Company, and the connotations of the individual case of Denial of Corporate Personality. The decision of this case shed light on these issues and clarified the judicial interpretations of Denial of Corporate Personality.

ChuanQi IP originally started the arbitration against Zhejiang Huanyou in Singapore in 2017 for failure to pay licensing fees. The Shanghai High People’s Court decision marks the end of this five-year legal action. Partner Devan Shao said, “We have represented ChuanQi IP all the way through its claim, from the original application to go to arbitration, to having the Singapore arbitration award recognized and executed and through the final judgment. It was a great honour to witness and accompany ChuanQi IP through its ‘legendary’ twists and turns of the case.”

The Fangda team was led by our Intellectual Property Partner Devan Shao and the team included associate Yuner Wang and formerly Jie Wang and Debi Song (whose contribution is greatly appreciated).