If technology companies could predict their futures in Hong Kong, they might say that the future is bright. In March, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing provided welcome news when it made it easier for advanced technology companies – including those in artificial intelligence and semiconductors – to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In a statement issued by the exchange operator, it said that for companies in the nearly 20 sectors considered “specialist technology,” the minimum market capitalization required to list on the Hong Kong Main Board in the new rules will be HK$6 billion (US$766,200), The exchange lowered the floor from HK$8 billion (US$1.02 million) in an earlier proposal. 

The required market cap for commercial firms to list was also lowered, from HK$15 billion to HK$10 billion, effective March 31, 2023.  

“The new economy sector is rapidly changing the way in which we live and work, and this new route to market will support some of the most innovative and progressive companies of the future,” HKEX chief executive officer Nicolas Aguzin said in a statement. 

“The new listing regime will also be attractive to regions which are a hotbed for innovative tech companies, such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East,” Virginia Lee, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm Clifford Chance, told Bloomberg.  

In early April 2023, the South China Morning Post reported that Hong Kong-based tech companies were solving a tech talent crunch in the city by casting a wider net through Southeast Asia. After what the Post called a “tedious and fruitless hunt for talent in Hong Kong,” Tutor Circle founder and CEO Andy Ng turned to Southeast Asia to boost staff numbers at the city’s largest tutor-matching platform, which was suffering from an ongoing brain drain in Hong Kong’s tech sector.  

Ng hired two remote software engineers from Malaysia to join his 20-member team, the newspaper reported.  

“A significant number of Hong Kong's young talent have jumped ship in recent years, resulting in a talent shortage,” Ng said. “With the increasing demand for tech talent in Hong Kong, higher hiring costs are needed to retain them.” 

The Post reported that Hong Kong has seen a severe talent crunch in recent years. More than 200,000 expats and Hongkongers left the city between mid-2020 and last summer, following the social unrest and harsh quarantine measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Facing this bright future for technology companies in Hong Kong, and 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’s IP Experts, those lawyers who understand just what their clients need and are able to provide them with the best practical advice.  

Hong Kong has long been a hub for global law firms, and those IP firms and practices are well-represented on our list, with Baker McKenzie and Bird & Bird each placing four lawyers on our list, and Hogan Lovells and Rouse each with three lawyers on the list. Global firms Clifford Chance, DLA Piper, Eversheds Sutherland, Jones Day, Marks & Clerk, Mayer Brown, MinterEllison, Nixon Peabody CWL and Simmons & Simmons are also represented on the list.  

But Hong Kong has also been a place where local law firms can thrive, and their inclusion on our list – and the numbers by which they are represented – is proof of that. Deacons has four lawyers on the list, ELLALAN and Wilkinson & Grist have three and SIPS has two. Twelve more local practices are represented, from DeLab Consulting to Gallant, from P.C. Woo & Co. to Oldham Li & Nie. 

Our survey includes only those lawyers working at law firms in Hong Kong. 

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 Asia IP’s IP Experts for Hong Kong. – GREGORY GLASS 

Hong Kong’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to thousands of in-house counsel in Hong Kong, China, Asia and around the world, as well as Hong Kong- and China-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers, including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel.  

The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of the editorial team at Asia IP, which has more than 45 years of collective experience in researching and understanding the legal market in Hong Kong. 

All private practice intellectual property lawyers working at law firms in Hong Kong were eligible for inclusion in the nomination process; there were no fees or any other requirements for inclusion in the process. 

The names of our 50 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.