From September 27 to 29, 2026, the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) hosted its 2026 Annual Meeting at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel in Toronto, Canada. As one of the most influential annual gatherings in the global IP community, this year’s meeting brought together chief IP officers, industry leaders, government officials, and academic experts from leading global enterprises to engage in in-depth discussions on IP strategy, policy trends, and best practices. Nathan Yang, Partner of NTD IP Attorneys, was invited to attend and spoke as a panelist at the concurrent session titled “Battles at the Border: Counterfeits, Designs, and Customs Enforcement in Canada, Asia, and the U.S.”
(Nathan Yang speaking at the session)
The concurrent session was jointly organized by IPO’s Canada Practice Committee, Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Piracy Committee, Asia Practice Committee, and Industrial Design Committee. The session focused on the practices and challenges faced by border enforcement authorities in Canada, Asia, and the U.S. in addressing the cross-border flow of infringing goods. It systematically reviewed the legal frameworks and practical operations of border enforcement in the three jurisdictions, summarized effective experiences and shortcomings, analyzed regional differences in the scope of protection, and provided rights holders with targeted and actionable best practice recommendations.
Nathan Yang joined lawyers and in-house counsel from Sterne Kessler (US), Cassels Brock & Blackwell (Canada), and Dell Technologies on the panel. As the only panelist from Asia in this session, Nathan Yang drew on NTD’s extensive experience in advising domestic and international clients on cross-border infringement issues to share the latest developments and practical insights on trademark protection, customs border measures, and anti-counterfeiting enforcement in major Asian jurisdictions. His presentation offered global rights holders a valuable Asian perspective and practical reference.
(Group photo of the panelists)
NTD has long been actively involved in the activities of leading international IP organizations. Nathan Yang’s invitation to speak at the IPO Annual Meeting — a premier global IP platform — is another important milestone in NTD’s continued deepening of its international engagement and commitment to serving clients worldwide. Looking ahead, NTD will continue to uphold its philosophy of “Professionalism as Foundation, Clients First,” actively participate in global IP governance and industry dialogue, and provide domestic and international clients with more precise, efficient, and forward-looking IP legal services.
Nathan YANG
Senior Partner
Attorney-at-law
Trademark Attorney
Nathan Yang graduated from the University of International Business and Economy with a Master of Law in 2008, and then joined NTD to engage in intellectual property legal services. Later, he went to Chicago-Kent College of Law and earned LLM degree.
Mr. Yang focuses on Trademark, anti-unfair competition, copyright, litigation and administrative enforcement, arbitration, investigation, customs detention, contract and negotiation, domain name dispute resolution, enterprise IP strategy and general legal consultancy.
The cases represented by Mr. Yang have successively won such honors as the Top 10 Typical Intellectual Property Cases in Servicing and Safeguarding High-Quality Development of Technological Innovation (2022-2025) by Hangzhou Court, 2024 Typical Intellectual Property Cases by Shenzhen Court, 2024 Typical Anti-Unfair Competition Cases for "Maintaining Fair Competition and Optimizing the Business Environment" by Shenzhen Court, 2022-2023 Typical Trademark Cases by China Trademark Association, 2021 Top 10 Trademark Litigation Cases by Beijing Trademark Association, 2021 Best International Legal Service Cases by Beijing Bar Association. He was selected as 2024-2026 Chambers and Partners ranked lawyer for “Intellectual Property: Litigation” in Greater China Region, Lexology Index: IP 2025 report: Trademarks Recommended Individual, 2025 INTA Rising Star, 2022-2025 WTR 1000 Recommended Individual, WIPR Insights Trademarks Rankings 2023-2025 (China) Highly Recommended Individual on Contentious field, 2025 Beijing Trademark Association 30th Anniversary Celebration: Leading Figure in Trademark Legal Services.
Mr. Yang has been interviewed by NPR about Trump's trademark protection in China, and by CCTV2 and CNR about bad faith filings and geographical indication protection.
