August 1 2025
Ep4 Tim’s Travails: Meet Mark Cohen, former intellectual property attache at the US Embassy in Beijing
August 2025 — This month on Mark Cohen, former intellectual property attaché at the US Embassy in Beijing
Today’s Topic: Understanding China through a Professor’s Eyes
Tim talks with Mark about:
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What advice would you offer someone studying Chinese today?
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What are the challenges facing US diplomats in China on Intellectual Property?
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What do you see as the trajectory for US-China relations in trade and especially in Intellectual Property?
About our guest: Mark Cohen is a non-resident fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research and the University of California, San Diego. He serves as a guest professor at Renmin University (Beijing) and on the Advisory Board of the Asia Society. He previously led the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at Berkeley Law School, where he was responsible for teaching international trade law and researching and writing on IP issues. Previously, Cohen was Senior Counsel, China in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, after serving as a visiting professor at Fordham Law School (2011-2012). Prior to that time, he served in such functions as: Director, International Intellectual Property at Microsoft Corporation; Of Counsel to Jones Day’s Beijing office; and Senior Intellectual Property Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing (2004-2008). In total, he has over 30 years of private, public sector, in-house, and academic experience in China and transition economies, with a focus on technology trade and intellectual property.
Cohen was the first IPR Attaché posted by USPTO to handle IPR issues in a foreign country. In addition, he launched the annual “Ambassador’s IPR Roundtable,” which he co-chaired for five years, devised IPR “toolkits”, “road shows”, pro-bono programs, internal training programs for the US government and external training programs, and worked with USPTO and other US agencies to engage China and Chinese IP agencies. Cohen led a China team at USPTO consisting of 21 individuals in DC, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, China on all aspects of USPTO’s activities in China. Among his book-length publications are Antimonopoly Law and Practice in China (Oxford University Press, 2011, with Steve Harris et al.). He was also the editor of Chinese Intellectual Property Law and Practice (Kluwer Law International 1999) and has edited or published a number of online publications, including the blog www.chinaipr.com.
Mr. Cohen has taught and lectured at numerous universities in the United States, Asia and Europe. Amongst other honors, he was the recipient of the US Chamber of Commerce’s “IP Champion” award in 2014 and the Meritorious Service Award—the highest award in the U.S. civil service—from President Trump, upon the recommendation of President Obama. Mr. Cohen holds a JD degree from Columbia University (1984), an MA from the University of Wisconsin in Chinese Language and Literature (1979) and a BA from the State University of New York at Albany in Chinese Studies (1977).
Photos of Tim by AnnaGibbs.com
About Tim’s Travails: In this podcast/video sereis, IP attorney and author Tim Trainer introduce us to experts around the country who have insight into the law, international trade, and more, to help us better understand our world in 2025 and beyond.
Tim, himself, fits the bill for he worked for three decades for the US government and private law firms focusing on international trade, and has developed a deep understanding of global economics and politics.
Writing books is his passion. The author of seven books as of 2025, he has penned several non-fiction tomes, including his first book, Customs Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights; the 15th edition was published in 2020. Thomson Reuters’ Aspatore Books published Tim’s next title in 2015, Potato Chips to Computer Chips: The War on Fake Stuff. Fiction was a genre he always wanted to try. In 2017, Pendulum Over the Pacific was released by Joshua Tree Publishing. “This political intrigue story is set in Tokyo and Washington, D.C., and centers on trade tensions between the U.S. and Japan in the late 1980s,” Tim explains. In 2023, his first series hit bookstores: The China Connection. In December 2024, he followed it with The China Factor.
Stay tuned for more episodes on InkandescentRadio.com and Inkandescent.tv, and of course, log in regularly for new blog entries and other information on Tim’s website, www.TimothyTrainer.com.
