By Susan Ning, Zheng Ziqing and Wu Han

On March 12, two Chinese Internet video giants Youku and Tudou announced that the two companies have signed a final agreement on March 11 to combine their services in a 100% stock-for-stock transaction to create a new service provider, Youku Tudou Inc, allowing Tudou to exit the stock market.

After the combination, Youku’s shareholders and holders of its American Depository Receipts (ADRs) will have 71.5% of equity of the new company, with Tudou’s shareholders and its ADR holders entitled to 28.5% of the combined equity. Youku’s ADRs, under the symbol of "YOKU", will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Continue Reading Launch of Youku Tudou Inc.

King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

In recent years, the world has witnessed several milestone events signaling the arrival of a new generation of global internet companies. Apart from the much-hyped dawn of social media, there is a much broader trend taking place, one that has outgrown the traditional boundaries of the tech sector itself. “In short,” as Marc Andreessen wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal column, “software is eating the world.” As corresponding developments are happening in China, this new era has caused and will continue to cause dramatic implications on the monitoring and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the country. Continue Reading Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in the Next Internet Era

By Richard  Wigley of King & Wood’s Intellectual Property Group

Hollywood and Hong Kong film studios have long struggled to monetize their content in China. Though revenues from traditional movie theaters are growing rapidly, the real action may be found in the online market, where Chinese youth prefer to obtain their entertainment (i.e. film and television programming). How then can a content owner best take advantage of this rapid movement to online viewing in today’s China?Continue Reading China’s Online Video Providers struck by PRC Copyright Enforcement and a shifting Market are forced to transform.