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As the Asian region reopens after three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of intellectual property remains more important than ever. This is reflected in the approaches of the best law firms for IP work, which have gone above and beyond when it comes to servicing their clients in these times of transition. 

 

The effective protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) remains a key pillar of economic growth and is often seen as the Achilles heel of economies across Asia. Over the last few years, however, protection has improved significantly across Asia.

From fine-tuning in Japan, which has a well-developed system of IP protection, to China’s efforts to strengthen rules and enforcement and India’s ongoing rapid growth, all the way to the discrepancies across the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), IP laws and regulations remain of paramount importance for business and economic growth.

With the largest population in the world and plenty of upside market potential, Asian countries continue to generate new and innovative domestic businesses while remaining attractive for global businesses across all sectors. Many, if not most, of these businesses produce and rely on intellectual property (IP).

IP is often the most valuable asset businesses have. A constant challenge for regulators is how to ensure IP is protected while creating an environment that facilitates and encourages innovation, is in line with global standards and remains attractive enough to attract new businesses.

In recent years, economies across Asia have seen significant developments in copyright, trademark and patent protection. Governments and organisations throughout the region continue to work to strengthen IP-related laws and regulations and improve enforcement.

A significant step forward in 2020, for example, was the signing by 15 countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This advanced and forward-looking free trade agreement is the first among the largest Asian economies and covers about a third of the world’s population.

However, across Asia, different countries have seen various levels of development in their IP protection infrastructure, with recent developments pointing to some of the still-existing disparities.

JAPAN: FINE-TUNING

In the first half of 2023, Japan was expected to approve guidelines for new legislation, first proposed in December 2021, to pay companies to keep secret any patents with potential military applications, including compensation equivalent to about 20 years of licensing income.

The new patent protection was expected to take the force of law by May 2024 and mark a significant change for sensitive patents, usually made public a year and a half after publication.

The new law would further strengthen Japan’s IP protection system, which was developed earlier than most in the region and is regarded as more mature and robust in its ability to protect intellectual property rights (IPR) related to patents (utility models and designs), trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Separate legislation protects each one.

The Japanese government has established various laws and regulations to protect IP, and it has also signed international agreements and treaties to ensure that IP rights are recognised and protected globally.

Patents are protected in Japan by the Patent Act, which provides for both utility and design patents. The Japan Patent Office (JPO) administers patents, and the country is a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). A Trade-mark Act and participation in the Madrid Protocol support trademark protection, and a Copyright Act does the same for copyrights, while the Unfair Competition Prevention Act protects trade secrets. Japan also has specialised courts for IP disputes, including the Intellectual Property High Court and the Tokyo District Court Intellectual Property Division.

Still, Japan has ramped up efforts to strengthen IP legislation in recent years and better protect IPR. For example, in 2021, Japan strengthened Article 102 of the Japanese Patent Act, which deals with the presumption of damages, and the changes allow patentees to prove serious damages more easily.

Since then, the success rate of patent owners that head to court has increased rapidly in the past few years, and financial compensation has also increased over the same time.

CHINA: FORWARD MOVEMENT

China has, over the last few years, made significant progress in strengthening its IP protection system. However, there are still myriad challenges in effectively enforcing IP rights, particularly in the areas of patent and trademark infringement, copyright piracy and thefts of trade secrets.

To address these challenges, China has established specialised IP courts to handle IP disputes, including the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, Shanghai Intellectual Property Court, and the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court, which was founded in 2014. These courts have been working to improve IP enforcement in China.

In April 2023, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC-IPC) released its report for 2022, which suggested that courts had dealt with 6,183 cases throughout the year, up 18 percent from a year earlier. This included 4,405 new cases.

The increase in cases represented a slowdown in the growth of cases, and this was mostly related to a fall in patent grant and invalidation disputes, as the IPC stopped hearing appeals on technology-related IP contracts on May 1, 2022, according to the report.

Overall, China’s patent protection system has improved significantly over the past couple of decades.

A Patent Law provides for both invention and utility model patents, and the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) is responsible for administering the system, including the examination and granting of patents. A Trademark Law in China allows trademark and service trademark registration, which are administered by the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC). A Copyright Law protects literary, artistic, and musical works, as well as software and databases. The National Copyright Administration is responsible for administering China’s copyright system, and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law protects trade secrets.

A revised Patent Law took effect on June 1, 2021. The top-down reforming of the IP system incorporates both judicial and legislative updates.

The revision of the Patent Law strengthened the protection of the rights and interests of the patentee, promoted the implementation and application of patents, and improved the patent licensing system.

For example, the law raised the potential damages for malicious infringement, raising the lower limit of statutory damages from RMB10,000 to RMB30,000 and the upper limit from RMB1 million to RMB5 million, significantly increasing penalties for offenders. In the first decade of the century, by contrast, IP rights could only have expected to receive no more than $20,000 (about RMB150,000 at the time) in damages in infringement lawsuits.

The new law also establishes a drug patent linkage system with parallel judicial and administrative procedures, enabling patent owners of innovative drugs to stop infringing generic drugs from entering the market as soon as a drug is approved.

It also extends the term of protection for design patents to 15 years, and includes partial design patents in the scope of protection, and provides domes-tic priority for design patents.

More forward-looking, the amendment also considers job inventions, rewards and remuneration, an open licensing system and patent rights abuses.

China has also strengthened the administrative protection of IPR.

Data from the State Intellectual Property Office showed that China handled 58,000 administrative cases of patent infringement disputes in 2022, up 16.8 percent year-on-year; received 71,000 applications for rights protection assistance; and accepted 88,000 mediation cases.

China is also deeply involved in international rulemaking on big data, artificial intelligence, gene technology, and genetic resources under the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and acceded to the Hague Agreement and entered into force on May 5, 2022.

INDIA: RED TAPE

India has made significant progress in developing its intellectual property (IP) protection system in recent years. The Indian government has taken various initiatives to strengthen IP protection and enforcement.

A report for 2021-2022 by the Intellectual Property Office released in April 2023 suggests ongoing growth in IP filings, with patent applications rising 13.57 percent through the year, design applications up almost 60 percent, trademarks rising by 2.1 percent and copyright filings up by 26.74 percent. Altogether, 66,440 new patents were filed in the 2021-2022 year.

The country has a Patents Act that covers both product and process patents, a Trade Marks Act, a Copyright Act and the Indian Contract Act that protects trade secrets. It also has in its books the Protection of Plant Varie-ties and Farmers’ Rights Act provides for the protection of plant varieties in India. India has established specialised IP courts to handle IP disputes, including the Intellectual Property Appellate Board and the Commercial Courts and Commercial Division.

Aware that a big challenge for the country’s IPR protection system is a massive amount of red tape, the government has taken steps to streamline the patent examination process, including the introduction of a fast-track patent examination system for certain categories of patents and the implementation of a comprehensive e-filing system for patent applications.

India has signed several international agreements and treaties to enhance cooperation with other countries on IP protection and enforcement, including the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty in 2018.

Overall, India’s efforts to strengthen its IP protection and enforcement system have helped to create a more conducive environment for innovation and creativity.

ASEAN: BETTER PROTECTION

The ASEAN countries include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the close trade relationship have facilitated some unified IPR standards for the 10 countries, but there are also some significant differences in the levels of IPR protection in each.

Still, ASEAN countries are trying to accommodate international norms with regional and national rules, and some have taken significant steps to improve protection.

In January 2023, for instance, significant changes to Vietnam’s Intellectual Property Law took effect. The changes were first introduced in January 2022 and ratified in June 2022. The changes brought the law closer to international standards and marked the most comprehensive amendments since the law was first introduced in 2005.

The changes clarify the rules around co-authorship, moral rights, property rights, and copyright in movies, theatre, and computer programs, protecting them as literary works.

ASEAN countries have taken significant steps to improve IP protection as a group.

The regional group does have a specific initiative called the ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Action Plan 2016-2025, which sees IP as central to building the region’s socioeconomic goals. The ASEAN IPR Action Plan and other initiatives aim to address these challenges and promote the development of a robust IP protection system throughout the region.

The plan aims to strengthen IP protection and enforcement across all ASEAN member countries.

The ASEAN IPR Action Plan includes several initiatives to improve IP protection and enforcement in the region, including establishing regional IP agreements, capacity-building programs for ASEAN member countries, and cooperation with international organisations. It tries to get all member countries in ASEAN to accede to all the major IP treaties such as the PCT, TRIPS, Paris Convention, Madrid Protocol, and the Hague System.

All of ASEAN’s member countries, except Myanmar, are PCT, Paris Convention, and Madrid Protocol members. The PCT enables countries to benefit applicants that seek international patent protection by providing a unified procedure for patent applications across its contracting states.

Most ASEAN countries, again with the exception of Myanmar, joined the ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation (ASPEC) deal, launched in 2009. As a regional patent work-sharing program among all the ASEAN member countries except Myanmar, ASPEC shares search and examination results between participating member countries’ IP offices.

This program could save substantial time and cost for those who seek patent protection in multiple ASEAN countries.

The ASEAN Common Guidelines for the Substantive Examination of Trade-marks were developed to provide a common approach to examining trademark applications across ASEAN member countries. The guidelines aim to improve the region’s efficiency and consistency of trademark examination.

The ASEAN Copyright Framework was established to promote the development of copyright industries in ASEAN member countries and to strengthen copyright protection and enforcement. The framework includes initiatives to improve copyright laws, promote the use of technology to protect copyright, and provide capacity-building programs for copyright enforcement agencies.

ASEAN countries also seek cooperation with countries with developed IPR systems. On September 16, 2022, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) announced its IPR Action Plan for 2022 with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The plan is an annual measure based on the ASEAN IP Action Plan 2016-2025, which is dedicated to improving the IP environment in the ASEAN region. The plan provides training to the ASEAN Intellectual Property Academy.

It holds the 3rd Japan-ASEAN Patent Experts Meeting to discuss the improvement of patent examination standards in advanced technologies, sharing issues regarding patent mistranslation, etc. It continues the survey on patent examination and the activation of patent information in advanced technologies by East Asia and the ASEAN Economic Research Center (ERIA).

The plan also promotes the joining and operational cooperation of the inter-national filing system (Madrid Agreement/Hague Agreement).

Each ASEAN member country also has laws and regulations governing IP protection, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Many ASEAN member countries have also signed international agreements and treaties, such as the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) treaties, to ensure their IP protection systems are recognised and protected globally.

Take Malaysia as an example. The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO), the patent office responsible for the provision of IP registration services and administration of IP registries, currently has patent prosecution highway (PPH) agreements with four foreign patent offices – the Japan Patent Office (JPO) since 2014, the European Patent Office (EPO) since 2017, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) since 2018 and, most recently, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) since 2020.

Under the PPH, a patent applicant may request accelerated examination by the MyIPO based on favourable examination results of a corresponding application in Japan, Europe, China, Korea, or a PCT application.

 

THE LIST

HONG KONG

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

AWA Asia

Baker McKenzie

Barron & Young

Bird & Bird

China Patent Agent (HK)

Deacons

Hogan Lovells

Rouse Consultancy

AWA Asia

Baker McKenzie

Bird & Bird

Deacons

Hogan Lovells

Mayer Brown

MinterEllison

OLN IP Services

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Rouse Consultancy

SIPS

Stephenson Harwood

 

Tier 2

Tier 2

CMS

DLA Piper

Dorsey & Whitney

Eagle IP

ELLALAN

Eversheds Sutherland

Fangda Partners

Jones Day

Mayer Brown

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Morrison & Foerster

Nixon Peabody

Norton Rose Fulbright

OLN IP Services

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Paul Hastings

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

Robin Bridge & John Liu

Ropes & Gray

SIPS

Stephenson Harwood

Squire Patton Boggs

Tiang & Partners

Wilkinson & Grist

Winston & Strawn

Clifford Chance

CMS

DLA Piper

Dorsey & Whitney

ELLALAN

Eversheds Sutherland

Fangda Partners

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Jones Day

Morrison & Foerster

Nishimura & Asahi

Nixon Peabody

Norton Rose Fulbright

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

Robin Bridge & John Liu

Ropes & Gray

Simmons & Simmons

Spruson & Ferguson

Squire Patton Boggs

Tiang & Partners

Vivien Chan & Co

Wilkinson & Grist

 

 

INDIA

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

Anand and Anand

Khaitan & Co

K&S Partners

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan

Remfry & Sagar

Anand and Anand

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

IndusLaw

Khaitan & Co

K&S Partners

Remfry & Sagar

Saikrishna & Associates

 

Tier 2

Tier 2

Ajay Sahni & Associates

AZB & Partners

Beruar & Beruar

Chadha & Chadha

Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

Ediplis Counsels

Fox Mandal & Associates

IndusLaw

Inttl Advocare

InventIP Legal Services

LexOrbis

L&L Partners

Majmudar & Partners Legal

R.K. Dewan & Co

S&A Law Offices

Singh & Associates

Solomon & Co.

Subramaniam, Nataraj & Associates

Ajay Sahni & Associates

AZB & Partners

Beruar & Beruar

Chadha & Chadha

Ediplis Counsels

Fox Mandal & Associates

Fidus Law Chambers

Inttl Advcocare

InventIP Legal Services

Khurana & Khurana

Krishnamurthy & Co./K Law

L&L Partners

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan

LexOrbis

Mason & Associates

R.K. Dewan & Co

S&A Law Offices

Subramaniam, Nataraj & Associates

Sujata Chaudhri IP Attorneys

ZeusIP

 

Tier 3

Tier 3

ALMT Legal

Archer & Angel

De Penning & De Penning

Fidus Law Chambers

Khurana & Khurana

Krishna & Saurastri Associates

Lall & Sethi

Mason & Associates Rahul Chaudhry & Partners

RNA IP Attorneys

Saikrishna & Associates

Samvad Partners

ZeusIP

Ahlawat & Associates

Altacit Global

DePenning & DePenning

DSK Legal

Krishna & Saurastri Associates

Lall & Sethi

Majmudar & Partners

NovoJuris Legal

Phoenix Legal

Rahul Chaudhry & Partners

RNA IP Attorneys

Samvad Partners

Solomon & Co.

 

 

INDONESIA

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

Am Badar & Am Badar

Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners

Rouse/ Suryomurcito & Co

SKC Law

Tilleke & Gibbins

 

Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners

Januar Jahja & Partners

K&K Advocates

Rouse (in association with Suryomurcito & Co)

SKC Law

Tier 2

Tier 2

Assegaf Hamzah & Partners

Biro Oktroi Roosseno

Inter Patent Office

Januar Jahja & Partners

Roosdiono & Partners

Acemark IP

Am Badar & Am Badar

Assegaf Hamzah & Partners

Biro Oktroi Roosseno

Inter Patent Office

Kusnandar & Co

Pacific Patent Multiglobal

Roosdiono & Partners

SIP Law Firm

SSA Advocates

Tilleke & Gibbins

Tier 3

 

Acemark IP

AMR Partnership

Budidjaja International Lawyers

Makarim & Taira S.

Walalangi & Partners (in association with Nishimura & Asahi)

SSA Advocates

 

 

 

JAPAN DOMESTIC

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

Abe Ikubo & Katayama

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Nakamura & Partners

Nishimura & Asahi

TMI Associates

Abe, Ikubo & Katayama

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune

Atsumi & Sakai

Mori Hamada & Matsumoto

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Nakamura & Partners

Nishimura & Asahi

TMI Associates

 

Tier 2

Tier 2

Abe & Partners

Atsumi & Sakai

Fukami Patent Office

Kubota Patent and Law Office

Itoh International Patent Office

Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners

Onda Techno Int. Patent Attys.

Ohno & Partners

Ryuka IP Law Firm

Seiwa Patent & Law

Shiga International Patent Office

Shusaku- Yamamoto

Sugimura & Partners

ZeLo

 

Fukami Patent Office

Kubota Patent and Law Office

Itoh International Patent Office

Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners

Onda Techno Int. Patent Attys.

Ohno & Partners

Ryuka IP Law Firm

Seiwa Patent & Law

Shiga International Patent Office

Shusaku- Yamamoto

Soei Intellectual Property Law

Sugimura & Partners

ZeLo

 

 

JAPAN INTERNATIONAL

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

BakerMcKenzie

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

Hogan Lovells

Morrison & Foerster

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Baker McKenzie

Hogan Lovells

Morrison & Foerster

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Tier 2

Tier 2

China Patent Agent (HK)

Foley & Lardner

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Mayer Brown

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

Ropes & Gray

Squire Patton Boggs

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

Foley & Lardner

Mayer Brown

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Squire Patton Boggs

 

 

MALAYSIA

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

LAW Partnership

Shearn Delamore & Co

Skrine

Wong & Partners

ZICO IP

LAW Partnership

Shearn Delamore & Co

Shook Lin & Bok

Skrine

Tay & Partners

Wong & Partners

Wong Jin Nee & Teo

ZICO IP

 

Tier 2

Tier 2

Chooi & Company + Cheang & Ariff

Christopher & Lee Ong

GAN Partnership

Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill

Nishimura & Asahi

Pintas Consulting Group

Raja, Darryl & Loh

Rahmat Lim & Partners

Shook Lin & Bok

Tay & Partners

Wong Jin Nee & Teo

 

Chooi & Company + Cheang & Ariff

Christopher & Lee Ong

GAN Partnership

Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill

Marks & Clerk

Nishimura & Asahi

Pintas Consulting Group

Rahmat Lim & Partners

Raja, Darryl & Loh

 

 

PHILIPPINES

PATENTS/COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Cruz Marcelo and Tenefrancia

Quisumbing Torres

SyCip Salazar, Hernandez & Gatmaitan

Villaraza & Angangco

 

Tier 2

Baranda & Associates

Bengzon Negre Untalan

Betita Cabilao Casuela Sarmiento

Carag Caballes Jamora & Somera

Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose

C&G Law

Federis & Associates

Gulapa & Lim

MarksPro

Puyat Jacinto & Santos

SKY Law

Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles

 

 

 

SINGAPORE

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

Allen & Gledhill

Amica Law

Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow

Bird & Bird ATMD

Dentons Rodyk

Drew & Napier

Marks & Clerk

Rajah & Tann

 

Allen & Gledhill

Amica Law

Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow

Bird & Bird ATMD

Dentons Rodyk

Drew & Napier

WongPartnership

Tier 2

Tier 2

CMS

CNP Law

Davies Collison Cave

Donaldson & Burkinshaw

Eversheds Sutherland

Gateway Law Corporation

Harry Elias Partnership

Joyce A. Tan & Partners

JurisAsia

Lee & Lee

Mayer Brown

Mirandah Asia

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Nishimura & Asahi

OC Queen Street

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Pintas-IPHouse

Ravindran Associates

RHTLaw Asia

Shook Lin & Bok

Spruson & Ferguson

Stephenson Harwood

TMI Associates

WongPartnership

 

Advocatus Law

CMS

CNP Law

Davies Collison Cave

Donaldson & Burkinshaw

Eversheds Sutherland

Gateway Law Corporation

Harry Elias Partnership

Joyce A. Tan & Partners

JurisAsia

Lee & Lee

Mayer Brown

Mirandah Asia

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Nishimura & Asahi

OC Queen Street

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Rajah & Tann

Ravindran Associates

Robinson

Pintas-IPHouse

RHTLaw Asia

Samuel Seow Law

Shook Lin & Bok

Stephenson Harwood

Spruson & Ferguson

TMI Associates

 

 

 

SOUTH KOREA

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

Bae, Kim & Lee

Kim & Chang

Lee & Ko

Ropes & Gray

Shin & Kim

Yoon & Lee International Patent & Law Firm

Yoon & Yang

Yulchon

 

Bae, Kim & Lee

Kim & Chang

Lee & Ko

Shin & Kim

Yoon & Yang

Yulchon

Tier 2

Tier 2

DR & AJU

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

Lee International IP & Law Group

 

AJU Kim Chang & Lee

DR & AJU

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

KBK Patent Law Office

Lee International IP & Law Group

Ropes & Gray

 

Tier 3

Tier 3

AIP Patent & Law Firm

Barun IP & Law

Koreana Patent Firm

Muhann Patent & Law Firm

Stephenson Harwood

YOU ME Patent & Law Firm

Y.P. Lee Mock & Partners

 

Barun IP & Law

Central International Law Firm

Cho & Partners

Jipyong

Kim, Choi & Lim

Muhann Patent & Law Firm

Stephenson Harwood

YP Lee Mock & Partners

 

 

 

TAIWAN

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

Baker McKenzie

Jones Day

Lee and Li

Saint Island International Patent & Law

Tsar & Tsai

 

Baker McKenzie

Eiger

Lee and Li

Saint Island International Patent & Law Offices

Tai E International Patent & Law

Tsar & Tsai

 

Tier 2

Tier 2

Chen & Lin

Deep & Far

Eiger

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

Tai E International Patent & Law

TIPLO

Tsai, Lee & Chen

 

Chen & Lin

Deep & Far

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner

Formosa Transnational

Formosan Brothers

Nishimura & Asahi

Perkins Coie

TIPLO

Tsai, Lee & Chen

Winkler Partners

 

Tier 3

 

Formosa Transnational

Formosan Brothers

Nishimura & Asahi

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Perkins Coie

Tsar & Tsai

Winkler Partners

 

 

 

 

THAILAND

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

Baker McKenzie

Domnern Somgiat & Boonma

Tilleke & Gibbins

 

Baker McKenzie

Domnern Somgiat & Boonma

Tilleke & Gibbins

ZICO IP

 

Tier 2

Tier 2

ILCT

Rouse

Satyapon & Partners

SCL Nishimura

ZICO IP

 

ILAWASIA

ILCT

LawPlus

Rouse

Satyapon & Partners

SCL Nishimura

 

Tier 3

Tier 3

Ananda IP

Apisith & Alliance

Chavalit & Associates

ILAWASIA

LawPlus

Mayer Brown

Rajah & Tann

Siam Premier International

TMI Associates

Vidon & Partners

 

Ananda IP

Dej – Udom & Associates

Mayer Brown

Rajah & Tann

Siam Premier International

TMI Associates

 

 

VIETNAM

PATENTS

COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK

Tier 1

Tier 1

Baker McKenzie

Pham & Associates

Tilleke & Gibbins

Vision & Associates

 

Baker McKenzie

Bross & Partners

IPMAX Law

Tilleke & Gibbins

Vision & Associates

 

Tier 2

Tier 2

RHTLaw Vietnam

Rouse

SB Law

ZICO Law

 

Hogan Lovells

Indochine Counsel

InvestConsult Group

Pham & Associates

RHTLaw Vietnam

Rouse

SB Law

 

Tier 3

Tier 3

Allen & Gledhill

Bross & Partners

Hogan Lovells

Indochine Counsel

InvestConsult Group

IPMAX Law

Lee & Ko

Mayer Brown

Nishimura & Asahi

Phuoc & Partners

Rajah Tann

Shin & Kim

TMI Associates

 

Ageless IP Attorneys & Consultants

Allen & Gledhill

Frasers Law Company

LNT & PARTNERS

Lee & Ko

Mayer Brown

Nishimura & Asahi

Rajah Tann

Schmitt & Orlov

Shin & Kim

Phuoc & Partners

TMI Associates

ZICO Law

 

 

 

 

METHODOLOGY

OUR RESEARCH

     The research covers the period spanning from February 2022 to February 2023. This includes both ongoing work (contentious and non-contentious) and matters that were closed during this timeframe.

     ALB will draw information from firm submissions, interviews, editorial resources and market suggestions to identify and rank the top firms for Intellectual Property in Asia. Interviews will be conducted only if needed.

     The IP rankings will be separated into two tables: "Patent" and "Trademark/Copyright". The rankings will also be divided into tiers, with the first tier identifying the strongest IP firms in each jurisdiction.

     The rankings will cover the following jurisdictions: Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. There will be no Asia-wide table.

     The rankings will feature both domestic and international firms. The following jurisdictions will have separate tables for domestic firms and international firms: Japan.

     Our research does not cover Australia and New Zealand.

OUR RANKINGS

     The volume, complexity and size of work undertaken

     Presence across Asia and in individual jurisdictions

     Key personnel hires and growth of the practice group

     Key clients and new client wins

     Firm's visibility and profile in the region

     Year-on-year development and momentum

 

TO CONTACT EDITORIAL TEAM, PLEASE EMAIL ALBEDITOR@THOMSONREUTERS.COM

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