Emerging Asian Law Firms Collaborate to Boost Cross-Border Business

February 19, 2025
To facilitate seamless advice for clients with cross-border business operations across Asia, five emerging Asian law firms have collaborated to help clients navigate the rapidly changing pan-Asian business and regulatory landscape. These law firms are: Taxise Asia LLC, a leading boutique Singapore law firm specialising in international tax and international trade law; GEN Law Firm, a leading legal practice with over 20 years of experience serving prominent industry players in China and internationally; Anagata Law Firm (by Riza Buditomo), an Indonesian full-service law firm with core practices in tax, customs, trade, and antitrust & competition; SNP Law Firm, an Indonesian corporate law firm established by practitioners who have been recognised for their extensive experiences in representing clients across various industries; and Hsian & Co, a Malaysian corporate law firm focusing on corporate M&A and corporate real estate transactions. Each collaborating firm brings decades of experience and a proven track record in delivering high-quality legal services within their respective jurisdictions. The firms are led by lawyers renowned for their expertise and their ability to navigate complex legal challenges with precision and creativity. Collectively, they represent a trusted choice for companies seeking a reliable and comprehensive legal partner in Southeast Asia. “China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are set to drive Asia’s economic growth by leveraging their unique strengths and strategic significance amid uncertainties and political tensions globally. Singapore’s status as a premier regional headquarters base and global financial center ensures seamless cross-border operations and investment flows,” said Taxise Asia Founding Principal Eugene Lim. Gen Law Firm Managing Partner He Jing commented, “China, as a global economic powerhouse, not only drives demand,...

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co’s Former Partner Appointed to Delhi High Court

February 19, 2025
Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co former Partner and Head of Arbitration Hon. Justice Tejas Karia has been appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Delhi. This appointment marks a significant milestone, as Justice Karia becomes one of the first judges to be elevated from an arbitration and law firm background, reflecting the judiciary’s increasing recognition of arbitration as a specialized and evolving field. Justice Karia has extensive expertise in international and domestic commercial arbitration, commercial litigation and information technology law. Throughout his career, he has handled complex and high-value disputes, representing clients in arbitrations before international and domestic tribunals, various High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. Beyond his legal practice, Justice Karia has played a pivotal role in shaping arbitration law and policy in India. He has been actively involved in advising on key legislative reforms, including amendments to the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, and the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill 2015. Additionally, Justice Tejas has held leadership positions as Vice President of Arbitration Bar of India, Member of the Court of Arbitration of Singapore International Arbitration Centre, and Vice-Chairperson of Society of Construction Law, further contributing to the development and global standing of India’s arbitration ecosystem. A proud alumnus of ILS Law College, Pune, and the London School of Economics, Justice Karia brings to the Bench a unique blend of practical legal expertise, commercial acumen and deep knowledge of dispute resolution mechanisms. His appointment underscores the judiciary’s commitment to strengthening India’s arbitration framework and fostering a more efficient dispute resolution...

Cleary Gottlieb to Merge Beijing Operations with Hong Kong Office

February 19, 2025
Amid the increasing US-China trade tensions, another law firm signified its intention to exit Mainland China middle of this year. “In July 2025, Cleary Gottlieb will merge our Beijing operations with Hong Kong, closing the Beijing office and consolidating our Greater China presence into Hong Kong,” the firm said in a statement. Founded in 1946 in New York and Washington, D. C., Cleary Gottlieb is among the first US firms to expand in Europe after World War II. It now operates in 16 major financial centers around the world, with the firm expanding to Beijing in 2006. However, its Asia footprint dates back to 1980 when it established its Hong Kong office, followed by the addition of an office in Seoul in 2012. The firm prides itself for operating “as a single, integrated global partnership and not a US firm with a network of overseas locations”. Industry data shows that Cleary Gottlieb is the 17th US firm to close its office in Mainland China since last year. The escalation of economic friction between China and the US, coupled with perceived data security threats, are among the probable reasons behind the exit of US firms from Mainland China, according to China experts. Notwithstanding its impending closure of its Beijing office, Cleary Gottlieb assured, “We continue our commitment to serving clients in the region and believe this decision will allow us to do so more...

The Greater China IP Updates – February 2025

February 17, 2025
Taiwan Continues to Lead Tech Innovation Taiwan-based smartphone designer MediaTek Inc. announced that it has partnered with American artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp. to develop a personal AI supercomputer superchip.  MediaTek Inc. said it was using its technology know-how to work with Nvidia on the Nvidia GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip.  According to Nvidia, Project DIGITS, the personal supercomputer powered by the Nvidia GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, delivers a petaflop of AI performance in a power-efficient, compact form factor.  Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said that the partnership is expected to make the Grace Blackwell platform more accessible and allow developers, researchers and students to use it for their work that needs AI involvement.  MediaTek and Nvidia have previously collaborated on the Taiwanese tech firm’s Dimensity Auto Cockpit chips, which integrate Nvidia’s next-generation graphics processing unit-accelerating AI computing and Nvidia RTX graphics.  In addition, both sides have also teamed up on integrating NvidiaTao, an AI model training and optimization toolkit, with MediaTek’s NeuroPilot SDK, a collection of software tools and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), to deliver advanced edge AI capabilities to Internet of Things applications.  At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, Jensen Huang demonstrated Nvidia Cosmos, a platform comprising state of the art generative world foundation models, advanced tokenizers, guardrails and an accelerated video processing pipeline built to advance the development of physical AI systems such as autonomous vehicles and robots.  Huang showcased ways physical AI developers can use Cosmos models, including video search and understanding, physics-based photoreal synthetic data generation, and physical AI model development and evaluation. Shanghai Enhances Data IP Protection with New System Altogether 158...

The Greater China IP Updates – January 2025

January 20, 2025
New Draft Amendment to Taiwan Patent Act The Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) announced the Draft Amendment to Certain Articles of the Patent Act on September 24, 2024.  The aim of the Amendment is to respond to the growth of emerging digital industries and the increasing diversity in image design through digital technology.  The Draft Amendment focuses on two main areas as follows: Relaxing several restrictions on design patent protection by taking into account the emergence of digital technology by allowing the scope of design protection to include image designs using digital technology and lifting the restriction that image designs must apply to articles. Also, a consolidated application for similar designs will be allowed by amending the relevant stipulations on revisions, invalidation proceedings and other related matters.  The grace period will be extended from six months to twelve months within which the applicant can file a design application irrespective of the prior publication or disclosure of the design.  Design divisional applications will have the time limit extended to three months from the receipt of either the approval of a design application or a reexamination decision. For any disputes over the right to apply for a patent and patent rights, civil procedures will be exclusively used for their resolution. This is a change from previous ideas under consideration such as an Appeal and Dispute Review Committee.  However, as this is still in draft form there may be further adjustments after discussions about how to deal with the various issues raised from this new Amendment. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Forecasts Revenue to Grow 29% in 2025 Driven by robust demand for...

The Greater China IP Updates – December 2024

January 10, 2025
Taiwan Intellectual Property Releases 2023 Trends and Comparisons The recently released report focuses on Taiwan Invention Patent Applications and WIPO PCT Applications.  In 2023, WIPO received an estimated 272,600 PCT invention patent applications, a 1.8% year on year decrease, ending a 13-year growth streak.  In contrast, TIPO received 50,854 applications, marking a 1.2% increase.  In 2023, the top three technical fields for WIPO applications were Computer Technology (10.2%), followed by Digital Communication (9.4%) and Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy (7.9%).  For TIPO, the top field was Semiconductors (15.0%), followed by Computer Technology (9.1%) and Electrical Machinery, Apparatus and Energy (6.1%).  Regarding the primary countries and their focus areas under WIPO patent filings, China had the highest share in Digital Communication (15.6%) while the United States focused most heavily on Computer Technology (12.9%).  Japan (11.3%) and Germany (11.8%) predominantly filed in the field of Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy, whereas South Korea showed a similar focus on Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, and Energy and Digital Communication (both at 11.2%).  In comparison, Taiwan, China, the US, Japan, and South Korea all ranked Semiconductors as the top field under TIPO filings, with shares ranging from 12.5% to 25.7%.  Under WIPO patent publications, China’s Huawei ranked first for the seventh consecutive year with 6,494 applications, followed by South Korea’s Samsung Electronics (3,924 applications) and the United States’ Qualcomm (3,410 applications).  For TIPO patent publications, TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) took the top spot for the fifth consecutive year with 1,582 applications, followed by Applied Materials (794 applications) from the US, Samsung Electronics (747 applications) from South Korea, and Qualcomm (695 applications) from the US. ...