Professional profile
About Dan
Partner | Capital markets; intellectual property; corporate finance; technology transfer; trade-secret and corporate disputes
Dan Cai is a partner in Huanqiu Law Offices' Nanjing office whose practice combines capital markets, intellectual property, corporate finance and corporate disputes. Her public profile describes work for state-owned enterprises, high-technology companies and industrial development zones and lists representative matters involving securities offerings, NEEQ projects, M&A, corporate financing, technology transfer and intellectual property litigation.
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This combination is especially valuable for technology companies because financing and IP ownership are tightly connected. A company may raise capital based on proprietary technology, yet its patents or trade secrets may have originated with a research institute, founder, former employer or joint-development partner. An investor needs to know not only whether an IP certificate exists but whether the company controls the technology necessary to operate its business.
Cai's representative corporate and securities matters include debt financing, NEEQ listing projects, M&A and financing work for technology businesses. These experiences suggest familiarity with the diligence and disclosure expectations that arise when a company's capital structure and financing become more sophisticated.
Her IP practice includes technology-transfer matters for a research institute, trade-secret litigation involving a high-technology company, copyright litigation for a wholly foreign-owned enterprise and trademark infringement work. She has also acted as legal counsel to an advanced laser technology research institute in technology financing. This mix makes her profile highly relevant to technology commercialization.
Research institutes and startups often use complicated IP structures. A university or institute may retain background IP while a company receives an exclusive license. A founder may own early patents personally. Employees may develop improvements after joining. Investors may assume all technology belongs to the financing company. These assumptions need to be tested.
Trade secrets are particularly difficult in financing diligence because they are not registered. The company must demonstrate what the secret is, who owns it, what confidentiality measures exist, which employees and suppliers have access and whether any dispute threatens use. China's revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law, effective in 2025, retains a detailed trade-secret framework and evidentiary rules that make these facts important.
For a financing transaction, an IP problem can become a valuation and closing problem. An investor may demand assignment of a founder-owned patent, amendment of a university license, stronger employee invention documentation, remediation of open-source software issues or a specific indemnity for litigation.
Cai's corporate-finance background is useful because the legal solution must fit transaction mechanics. A defect should be translated into a closing condition, covenant, valuation adjustment or disclosure rather than simply described as a diligence issue.
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