With China’s forthcoming Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area well on its way to fruition, Hong Kong-based lawyers will continue to play a key role in the development of intellectual property in the region. 

World Intellectual Property Office director Daren Tang called the Greater Bay Area “the most important economic part of China” and a world-class centre for scientific and technological innovation. According to WIPO’s 2020 Global Innovation Index (GII), the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster ranks second amongst the global Top 100 science and technology clusters. The Hong Kong special administrative region as an economy ranks 11th in the GII. 

Speaking by video at the Opening Ceremony of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Intellectual Property Trade Expo 2020 in Guangzhou, Tang pointed out that intellectual property is one indicator of innovative capacity, and that the Greater Bay Area shows great dynamism and diversity in this area. “Hong Kong has a century-old IP infrastructure and is still building up its IP financing ecosystem,” he said. “Guangdong boosts a patent examination cooperation center, a specialized IP court, and an IP training platform. Macau shows great potential in IP and tourism-related projects. Together, the Greater Bay Area’s experience reflects the value of a strong IP system in promoting economic and social development.” 

Soon, the region’s integration is set to take another step, when the Hong Kong government will introduce the Mainland Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (Reciprocal Enforcement) Bill into the Legislative Council to implement the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed between the Hong Kong Government and the Supreme People’s Court (REJ Arrangement) on January 18, 2019. 

“With the increasingly close interaction and co-operation between Hong Kong and the mainland in terms of trade and economic activities as well as social interactions, there have been calls from the legal and business sectors for the early implementation of the REJ Arrangement to establish a more comprehensive mechanism on reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments (REJ) in order to reduce the need for re-litigation of the same disputes in both places, offering better protection to the parties' interests and in turn putting in place a broad coverage of REJ in civil and commercial matters to Hong Kong and the mainland,” a spokesman for Hong Kong’s Department of Justice said on April 20, 2022. “It will also enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a regional centre for international legal and dispute resolution services.” 

All of this suggests that intellectual property lawyers in Hong Kong will continue to have ample opportunities to advise their domestic and foreign clients alike on patent, trademark and other forms of IP rights protection. 

With this continuing interest in intellectual property protection in Hong Kong, we turned to IP professionals in the region in order to understand better what clients need today. Asia IP asked a large number of professionals – mostly in-house counsel and corporate legal managers – what they were looking for from their legal service providers. From their answers, we have compiled our list of Hong Kong IP Experts, those lawyers who understand just what their clients need and are able to provide them with the best practical advice.  

Today’s clients are looking for more than just a degree from a top-notch university and a couple of decades of practice. In order to be an outstanding provider of intellectual property advice, a lawyer must also be capable of understanding how intellectual property impacts the rest of his client’s business, and be able to provide practical, real-world, business-savvy advice. She must be able to provide sound advice on the current law, but also needs to be able to understand coming trends which are likely to impact her client’s business. 

Unlike days past when she might have played just a bit role, today’s IP Expert is every bit a full-fledged team member. 

It was not unexpected to find Hong Kong’s top firms each placing a number of lawyers on the list. Baker McKenzie, Bird & Bird and Deacons each placed four lawyers on the list, while ELLALAN and Hogan Lovells each placed three on the list. Four firms – Marks & Clerk, Rouse, SIPS and Wilkinson & Grist – each placed two lawyers on the list. The remaining lawyers come from a mix of international firms like Eversheds Sutherland, Mayer Brown and Simmons & Simmons and regional and local firms, including David Lo & Partners, Gallant, Kwok Yih & Chan, Letters & Thoo and Lewis Silkin. 

Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.  

All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s Hong Kong IP Experts.

Hong Kong IP Experts 2022 Full List: