Hong Kong SAR

Firm overview

SIPS is a leading IP firm servicing the needs of multinationals and SMEs in Greater China. It has offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

SIPS helps clients in managing their IP portfolios, including the registration, enforcement and licensing of trademarks, copyrights and patents. It also assists with investigations management, advice on supply chain integrity, trade secret protection, data privacy, retail and wholesale distribution, ecommerce, distribution and sourcing agreements, and regulatory matters relating to IT and other high-tech sectors.

The firm’s clients include household name brands across a broad range of industries, including information technology and consumer electronics, F&B, fashion, media and entertainment. It also assists start-ups and SMEs that require support in protecting their IP in both the sourcing and distribution of their products in China.

SIPS is recognized as a top-tier service provider for trademark protection in China by leading industry surveys, including WTR 1000, Managing Intellectual Property, Chambers and Legal 500.

In late-2020, SIPS was recognized by Asia IP as China International Trademark Firm of the Year.

Our IP Services

Trademark Clearance

SIPS helps in searching new marks throughout the region. To manage costs, it typically runs a preliminary scan of the register and offers a cap or fixed fee for projects. SIPS also offers different tiers of searches. It can conduct low-cost “knock-out” searches to help in narrowing down the list of candidate marks. Alternatively, SIPS can provide deep analysis that includes creative advice on the options for overcoming serious conflicts. To these ends, it relies heavily on its in-house investigation team.

Trademark Registration Advice

SIPS never just files applications without first considering whether adjustments should be made to save cost and reduce the risks of objections. Likewise, it routinely provides creative suggestions for responding to office actions and rejections. The firm also proactively advises on enforcement risks, rather than limiting its comments to the implications of conflicts on registrability.

Portfolio Management and Audits

Upon taking responsibility for a portfolio, SIPS conducts an audit of the register as well as online sales platforms to ensure that existing applications and registrations are sufficient. SIPS may then suggest new filings to cover additional goods and services, as well as new marks – including Chinese-language marks that may have been overlooked.

Enforcement

A core part of SIPS’ practice is the management of investigations and enforcement against all varieties of IP violations. The bulk of this work relates to anti-counterfeiting, with about half of that concerning targets that advertise their goods online. The firm is known for its innovative approach to enforcement, testing the boundaries of the law and practice, as evidenced by SIPS’ work with coalitions, creative civil strategies, use of landlord liability strategies, and the proactive use of government affairs strategies to address more challenging cases.

Online Investigative Research Team

Beyond handling day-to-day takedown work, and unlike most of the firm’s competitors, SIPS has an in-house team of trained fraud investigators who are expert in analyzing search results and conducting deep research into infringers based in China and elsewhere. Their work can be crucial in prioritizing targets, uncovering infringers’ identities, tracing links between sellers and factories, and even mapping entire counterfeiting networks.

IP Investigations

For on-site investigation work, SIPS has an established a network of outside investigation firms, including those run entirely by local Chinese and those managed by expats.

SIPS selects firms for projects based on their capabilities, budget realities and other factors. On occasion, SIPS works with firms based in Hong Kong, US and Europe which are adept in organizing “offshore approaches” to purchase from infringers that sell mainly to buyers outside China.

Government Affairs

The SIPS team has a deep interest in the development of IP law and understand that involvement in the legal reform process can provide early access to useful information and thereby enrich its advice to clients. Most of the firm’s association work is conducted on a volunteer basis. But SIPS is also frequently engaged by associations and companies to provide draft position papers, speeches and research data to assist in their own direct lobbying efforts. Through this lobbying work, SIPS has generated contacts and a profile with a range of national and local authorities that in turn helps it in outreach to officials that can assist in resolving sensitive cases for clients.

Trademark and Domain Name Acquisitions

SIPS’ investigators and paralegals have extensive experience in negotiating with other parties for the purchase of trademarks and domain names.

Licensing

Another core part of SIPS work is the drafting and recordation of trademark, copyright, and technology license agreements. Its work in this regard is mainly done for companies in the entertainment sector, toys, fashion, and F&B.

Creation of New Chinese Marks

SIPS also assists clients with inventing and assessing new Chinese-language marks, in part to ensure that they are culturally and linguistically appropriate, keeping in mind the many oral dialects in China (Cantonese, Shanghainese, Fujianese, etc.). For clients seeking assistance in developing marks in languages other than Chinese, SIPS works in cooperation with an affiliate, Appella.

Firm overview

Norton Rose Fulbright in Canada is unique in its ability to provide seamless IP advice on a truly national and global scale. We have one of the few IP practices with such a designation in Canada covering IP professionals in each of Québec City, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. The integration of Bull Housser Tupper was completed on January 1, 2017 and has added a particular depth in trademark prosecution and litigation, anti-counterfeiting, and trade secrets. 

Litigation practice:
The team of IP litigators at Norton Rose Fulbright is ranked among the best in Canada. We provide offensive and defensive litigation counsel in all areas of intellectual property, including patents infringement and impeachment actions under the Patent Act and pursuant prohibition proceedings and section 8 damages actions under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance Regulations), copyrights, trade-marks, trade-mark oppositions, trade secrets, counterfeit enforcement, and industrial designs. The team is particularly well known and regarded for its patent litigation work for pharmaceutical clients. Our roster of innovative pharmaceutical clients for which we act in litigation is second to none in Canada. As pharmaceutical patent disputes represent a significant part of patent litigation in Canada, our team is extremely active in this area. The patent litigation practice also includes mechanical patents, medical devices and oil and gas patents, among other technologies. More recently, several new partners with leading practices in trademark and copyright litigation have increased our capabilities, successes and client base in this area. 

Patent practice:
Norton Rose Fulbright's Canada patent attorneys and agents have highly specialized degrees and provide comprehensive intellectual property advice and global portfolio strategy. We handle the Canadian and global patent work for a stellar cross section of Canadian and international clients. Our Canadian Patent Centre of Excellence complements notably the patent expertise within Norton Rose Fulbright in the United States.

We are one of the largest patent filers in Canada with a particular emphasis on drafting original patents and global portfolio strategy, as evidenced by the fact that we are consistently one of the top PCT filers in Canada. We are often selected over our competitors because our patent prosecution expertise is unrivalled and works seamlessly with our disputes and regulatory lawyers to provide strategic and holistic approach to patent portfolio management. 

Trademark practice: 
We assist clients with all aspects of the branding process. This includes providing overall branding strategy, the drafting and prosecuting of trade-mark applications, the provision of advice regarding availability and registrability of marks in Canada and globally. Our team provides strategic trade-mark advice including portfolio review, infringement surveillance, and advice on legal issues connected with introducing products and services to the market, such as branding, product information and advertising. We assist clients with all aspects of brands expansion into social media including acquisition of domain names, and enforcement of brands on all social media channels globally. Our litigation team acts for clients in opposition proceedings, infringement proceedings and expungement proceedings and trade libel actions. 

Copyright practice:
Our copyright team has expertise in all aspects of copyright law including clearance, acquisition and registration, infringement and litigation, due diligence, licenses, assignments and transactional issues. We act for copyright owners working in various industries such as film, television, video, music, art, fashion, literature, software and evolving media including telecommunications and the Internet. Similarly, our trade-marks team works with clients to acquire, commercialize and safeguard their brands, including logos, product or container shapes and packaging. We advise on all aspects of the selection, registration, commercialization and protection of rights related to trade-marks and brands. We are regularly called upon to advise on the copyright aspects of advertising and marketing campaigns. Clients consistently call upon our professionals for wide industry coverage, the shared experience between the team and our large panel of services. Our litigation lawyers are also active in copyright disputes at both the trial and appellate levels in the software, media, communications, and entertainment sectors with clients including film studios, software and gaming developers, telecommunications companies, the television industry and the music business. We have extensive experience representing rights holders before the Copyright Board and assisting in the enforcement of tariffs, as well as in anti-counterfeiting mandates for fashion enterprises and standards organizations, including border seizures and rapid enforcement campaigns. 

Commercial IP practice:
The IP team handles a wide range of commercial transactions relating to all areas of intellectual property. For example, our commercial IP team has assisted a major financial institution in developing key collaboration agreements, developed and negotiated licensing agreements with other financial institutions, developed blockchain consortium agreements, and very complex IP co-existence and ownership issues.

Last updated 31st July 2018

Firm overview

Over the last century we’ve been lucky enough to have played a part in protecting some of the world’s most ground-breaking inventions and high profile brands. You can trust us to know IP law inside out, to be curious, and to connect the dots to reach solutions others don’t.

We will provide you with a team, rich in real-world experience, comprising experts who have worked at the forefront of pioneering technologies. A substantial number of our lawyers hold qualifications in scientific or technical fields, meaning we are often called upon for our specialist knowledge and insight on large international mandates. We are respected for our creative and original solutions.

We offer both litigation and transactional support in relation to all IP rights, from small innovative projects to the largest, most complex and ground-breaking transactions and disputes.

Our approach has always been centred on client service, collaborating and innovating with our clients to create bespoke solutions that make their lives easier. This includes: our 'twobirds Pattern' product, a proprietary, in-house patent valuation and analysis tool, that allows us to landscape, analyse, and value patent portfolios in an automated and sophisticated way; and our innovative and dynamic Brand Protection Reporting Portal, which uses dynamic charts that give clients an up-to-date overview of their risk profile at any given time.

Talk to us to find out how our tools, experience and our genuine passion for IP can help you devise a strategy that will help to maintain your competitive edge, whilst protecting and optimising your IP in the best way possible.

Internationally Bird & Bird has over 400 IP lawyers, attorneys and legal professionals across our 29 offices, many of whom have known each other and worked together for years, meaning we're all on the same page and offer consistency and quality that runs through all levels of seniority. We are therefore ideally placed to devise and coordinate multi-jurisdictional litigation strategies and,in the future, to represent clients before the Unified Patent Court.

Office Locations: Australia, Belgium, China, Czech Republic & Slovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and United States of America

Firm overview

About Us

Rouse was established in the UK in 1990, and is recognised as a global Intellectual Property leader operating as a closely integrated network with more than 600 people working out of 18 offices in 13 countries.

We focus exclusively on IP, from strategic consulting, patents and trade marks through to domain names, copyright, designs and geographical indications. And we’re experts in providing services for each stage of their life cycle.

We have a deep understanding of all jurisdictions around the world and a strong focus on more challenging markets such as Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Russia. Most importantly, we’re passionate about IP and enjoy working with clients who share that passion. We put clients at the heart of our business and build long standing relationships. From large multinationals that want our scale, quality and professionalism, to start ups that value our entrepreneurial spirit, the companies we work with come from a broad range of sectors with diverse business interests and needs.

The Rouse Difference

Rouse prides itself on its quality and professionalism, but we have also always dared to be different. We don’t believe that all firms should be the same. That’s why we’ll always challenge the traditional way of doing things if we think another way is better.

It also means we don’t just advise on the law - in many countries we help define and shape it. We have a practical, pragmatic and “unstuffy” approach, with teams of professionals who work closely together across functions and geographical borders in a non-hierarchical, creative and results-oriented environment.

Rouse people are full of energy and enthusiasm. We are passionate about IP, our business and our people, and we genuinely enjoy what we do. We believe that having fun provides a happier, more productive working environment.

The Rouse Network

“International reach, local expertise”

Whatever your needs, in whatever country, we have either an established Rouse office or a long standing relationship with a local firm.

All our offices have both local and international experts that have bilingual capability. Where we don’t have an office we have a relationship with a local firm that we believe offers the best service for our clients and is the best fit for the Rouse culture and and the best service for our clients. Working with Rouse internationally means you can have one point of contact as well as a team of people around the world supporting you in the necessary jurisdictions.

The Rouse Network consists of local subsidiaries of Rouse International Limited and closely aligned but independent firms which work seamlessly together on engagements. Which elements of work are done by which entity depends entirely on the country in which work is carried out, in compliance with relevant legal and regulatory provisions.