Information about IP STARS trade mark firm rankings (2017)

We are delighted to announce that the 2017 rankings of the leading firms for trade mark work in over 75 jurisdictions are now available here on ipstars.com. Congratulations to all the firms listed.

Please use the navigation bar to view the rankings for the jurisdictions under each region. The 2017 US national rankings can be found under 'Americas'. The 2017 rankings and editorial for firms ranked under 'United States' will be published in May.

Apart from some firms moving between tiers or even included for the first time, we have added new countries such as Bulgaria and Croatia, and there is now a separate rankings table for law firms doing trade mark prosecution work in the UK.

It is important to take note of our publication schedule. We have only confirmed and published the 2017 trade mark rankings. Nothing else has been confirmed and published on this website.

We will publish the new 2017 firm rankings for patent and copyright in March and April, respectively. Until then, the old patent and copyright firm rankings, firm editorial and Trade mark and Patent Stars published in 2016 will remain on this website. We have placed a notice on all the country pages.

The new 2017 firm editorial and Stars lists, to accompany all our 2017 rankings, will be published in IP Stars Global Handbooks in May (for Trade mark and Copyright) and July (for Patent). The US edition of IP Stars Handbook will also be published in May. Thereafter the contents of the handbooks will be uploaded online. The handbooks will be made available to Managing IP subscribers and at conferences and events we attend this year.

Firms are ranked alphabetically in tiers, as highly recommended, or recommended. The total number of firms listed, as well as the number of tiers, varies by jurisdiction. For some smaller countries, we do not divide the rankings into practice areas, and firms here may be listed under "Intellectual Property" or “Trade Mark”. In most larger countries, we have separate rankings for prosecution and contentious work.

The rankings consider all trade mark-related work. Prosecution covers any pre- and post-registration work before the national IP office but in some jurisdictions, such as in Europe, we do take into account work done at EU level. Contentious includes other legal work, particularly trade mark disputes, whether or not it is in the court or tribunal. Of course, some firms have been ranked under both categories.

IP Stars rankings are based on extensive research carried out over a six-month period, starting from September each year. Our team of research analysts in London, New York and Hong Kong obtained information from firms and their clients through interviews, emails and online surveys.

Research analysts also conduct desk research for publicly available information as well as a review of existing data we hold on firms. Among the attributes assessed are: strength of the firm’s IP team, workload, outcomes achieved for clients and track record. The research is conducted rigorously and impartially, and there is no cost to participate. Firms cannot vote or pay for their own inclusion, nor can they solicit votes from associates.

These trade mark rankings are based on information available when the research was concluded in January 2017. Any subsequent developments such as firm name changes will be reflected in this year’s handbooks or, where appropriate, in real time on this website.

More information about IP Stars, including methodology, FAQs, research and publishing schedule, can be found here.

We always welcome feedback on our publication. If you have any enquiries or feedback please send an email to the researcher for your jurisdiction (copying in research@managingip.com). 

If you need our latest firm ranking logos please contact our business development team. All research and business development contacts can be found here.