Evan Williams is serving a long‐term detail as the United States Department of Justice Regional
Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordinator (IPLEC) for Asia. He is based at the U.S.
Consulate General in Hong Kong, where he coordinates and delivers intellectual property rights
prosecutorial and judicial training and technical assistance throughout the East Asia Pacific
region to foreign law enforcement partners of the United States. Prior to accepting the IPLEC
position, he served as Senior Counsel with the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and
Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), where he specialized in the criminal prosecution of
intellectual property offenses. Before joining CCIPS, he served as an Assistant United States
Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, and before
joining the Justice Department, as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District
Attorney’s Office, where in both offices he prosecuted a wide variety of violent and white‐collar
crimes. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School and Harvard College.

Joel Blank serves as the Intellectual Property Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China. In this capacity, Mr. Blank serves as the principal officer within the Embassy on matters related to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in China and as the primary liaison between the Embassy and relevant offices of the Chinese Government for such matters. Mr. Blank’s duties include helping to develop, promote, and implement U.S. Government policies that will facilitate the ability of right holders to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights in China; apprising the Ambassador and other Embassy officials of important intellectual property developments; and serving as a point-of-contact for U.S. companies that have questions on China’s intellectual property environment.
Prior to his appointment as the IP Attaché, Mr. Blank was an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the Administrator for Policy and External Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As a member of the Office’s Enforcement Team, Mr. Blank specialized in developing USPTO policy on China-related IP matters, particularly those concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights in China. Prior to joining the USPTO, Mr. Blank was a Senior Attorney in the Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce (OCCIC) in the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he advised the International Trade Administration on international trade law issues. While at OCCIC, Mr. Blank specialized in international intellectual property, investment, competition, and China-related legal issues. Mr. Blank graduated Magna Cum Laude from American University’s Washington College of Law, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Law Review, and holds a Business Degree from Drake University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with majors in International Business, Accounting, and Management.

As a practicing attorney for more than ten years, Hao Chen has not only handled a series of high profile domestic and international patent litigation cases, but also devoted himself to developing and expanding theories under IP law to protect his clients’ rights. He develops holistic strategies for IP development as well as for prevention and solution of IP disputes.