Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton has opened an office in Shanghai in response to China's growing intellectual property (IP) market.

The US firm has launched in Zhang Jiang High-Tech Park with IP partner Kenneth Chang and associate Charles Gray, both of whom have relocated to China from Kilpatrick's Denver office.

The Atlanta-based firm will initially focus on IP work and related areas such as licensing and outsourcing, with the launch of a corporate practice in the city also cited as a possibility.

The base will mark Kilpatrick's third office in Asia, but its first branch in Greater China.

"We are looking to grow in our existing practice areas, but prudently. We'll grow as the need comes. But certainly nothing is foreclosed," said Chang, who has been appointed as office managing partner.

"We are constantly looking at different practice areas. We have a very active corporate department in the US and so we're looking at opportunities."

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is among a raft of US outfits looking to expand their footprint in Asia, as the US and Europe continue to feel the effects of an economic slump.

Earlier this year, Cohen & Gresser, a 50-partner New York boutique, announced it was opening in Korea, while several smaller firms are thought to have applied for Qualifying Foreign Law Practice licences in Singapore.

Kilpatrick currently has two Asian offices in Tokyo and Taipei. Chang said the firm has no imminent plans to open other new offices, but was open to all opportunities.

"We're definitely strategically focused on Asia – it's one of our major [growth] areas," he said.

"We have opened in Shanghai primarily because a lot our clients are based here; we have a 20-year history in China. We're not foreclosed to the idea of expanding into Beijing, but this is where most of our clients are."