Christopher Smith joins SIPS in Hong Kong
07 January 2021
China trademark veteran Christopher Smith has joined SIPS as a partner in the firm’s Hong Kong office effective January 1, 2021.
Smith advises on a wide range of intellectual property matters in China, and has been recognized as a leading practitioner in the field for trademark prosecution work. He also advises extensively on a wide range of other IP matters in China, including trademark licensing, domain name disputes, unfair competition, parallel imports and OEM manufacturing. He has represented multinationals in a wide range of industries, including consumer electronics, computer software, toys, media and entertainment, aerospace and defense, apparel, accessories and luxury goods, food and beverage, skincare and cosmetics, fast-moving consumers goods, etc. In addition to reporting directly to senior IP counsels in a number of Fortune 100 companies, Smith also works with SMEs.
At the same time as providing strategic advice on creating, exploiting and defending trademark portfolios in China, Smith has also formulated and managed successful defense strategies for a number of multinationals facing opportunistic lawsuits brought by trademark pirates. Incidental to disputes filed against third-party pirate trademark applications, he has also obtained numerous decisions recognizing the well-known status of his clients’ trademarks in China.
Smith was previously a principal and consultant at Baker McKenzie. SIPS assists international and local clients with their trademark and other IP registration and enforcement matters in greater China. The firm – which has more than 70 professionals and staff based in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong – represents market-leading and emerging brand owners in a wide range of industries, including IT, fashion, F&B, finance, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
