Market disruption is an accepted reality for
business, as new competition and technologies drive the pace of change faster
than ever before. Our clients want lawyers who are prepared to lead,
differentiate and adapt in a constantly changing world. They want advisers who
are curious about the world, and embrace collaboration and candour.
As the original global
law firm, we bring the right talent to every client issue, regardless of where
the client is. We partner with our clients to deliver solutions in the world's
largest economies as well as newly opening markets.
We are global
citizens, industry savvy, diverse and have a thirst for innovation. Our
strength is our ability to adopt a new type of thinking and use cutting-edge
legal technologies to help clients overcome the challenges of competing in
today's new world economic order.
Managing and
protecting intellectual property has become increasingly complex for global
companies, which often have huge IP portfolios and operations in multiple
jurisdictions with varied IP laws and levels of enforcement. Rapid
technological advancements have enabled infringers to become more
sophisticated, and the rise of intellectual property as a main driver of
mergers and acquisitions has made developing strategies to protect these assets
even more important.
Since 1962, we have
helped the world's leading multinational companies in all aspects of the
acquisition, protection, enforcement and exploitation of their IP rights. With
nearly 400 intellectual property lawyers in 40 countries, we cover the full
scope of IP services in more jurisdictions than any other firm. Our global
coverage, high-quality work and commitment to client service are reflected in
the recognition we receive within the legal industry. Since 2009, our practice
has been ranked Band 1 by Chambers Global.
With expertise in the
automotive, luxury and fashion, fast-moving consumer goods, financial services,
technology, media and entertainment, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals, life
sciences and healthcare industries, we advise clients on brand management,
brand enforcement, patent litigation, patent prosecution, copyright, IP
litigation, trade secrets, IP transactions, tax and IP advisory, and marketing,
advertising and promotions. Based on our long experience in the field, we
approach IP management as a strategic issue and have developed the people,
processes and technologies to serve as a one-stop shop for protecting the IP
assets of global businesses.
Hiroshi Sheraton's
practice covers all aspects of intellectual property law with a particular
emphasis on contentious patent and trade mark matters and life sciences. Much
of his work is cross-border in nature. He regularly co-ordinates pan-European
and global IP litigation and advises clients on international IP strategies for
patent litigation and brand protection. He represents clients in the UKIPO,
EPO, OHIM, the English Courts and the CJEU. He has experience of IP matters
across Europe and has litigated IP cases in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the
Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg, the
USA and Asia Pacific.
Although he has a
first degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, he covers all areas of
technology from pharmaceuticals/biotech products and agrochemicals to
electronics and software.
Practice Focus
Hiroshi is
particularly involved at the interface between IP law and other legal
disciplines such as EU competition law. He is currently involved in one of the
first "reverse payment" patent settlement cases pending before the
European Commission, and has been involved in some of the leading cases
concerning "Euro-defences" to IP infringement and abusive assertion
of IP rights. He also has experience advising on pharmaceutical regulatory
issues where they interact with traditional IP rights such as matters
concerning Supplementary Protection Certificates, data exclusivity and clinical
trials. In the brand protection arena, Hiroshi assists several household name
brands on enforcement and portfolio management issues especially in highly
regulated industries such as alcohol beverages and online gaming.
Representative Legal Matters
• Represented the CibaVision
division of Novartis in global patent litigation against Johnson & Johnson
concerning extended-wear contact lenses.
• Acted for Novartis Vaccines in
multijurisdictional patent litigation against GSK Biologicals.
• Advised a market leading
manufacturer in patent litigation concerning gel-foam polymer technology in
several jurisdictions.
• Representing The Absolut Company in
brand enforcement matters, including in English High Court proceedings.
• Representing a pharmaceutical
company in defence of an allegation of breach of competition law in connection
with a patent settlement agreement.
• Acting for Document Security
Systems in its patent case brought against the European Central Bank in
proceedings across Europe relating to anti-counterfeiting technology.
Professional Associations and Memberships
• Intellectual Property Association –
Member
• Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys
(ITMA) – Member
• Law Society of England & Wales
– Member
• Chartered Institute of Patent
Attorneys – Member
Brand Enforcement
Counterfeiting is a
global problem that introduces unsafe and ineffective products into the
marketplace while costing governments and businesses lost tax revenues, income
and jobs. Counterfeiters are also a major problem for our clients, resulting in
lost sales, markets flooded with poor quality imitations, health and safety
risks to consumers who purchase counterfeits, and tarnishment
of the brand.
We act in first
instance an appellate trademark, design, copyright, passing off and unfair
competition litigation and ADR procedures.
We manage global,
regional and local offline and online brand enforcement programmes and investigations.
We manage global,
regional and local trade mark, design and copyright customs recordal
programmes.
We also recover domain
names in all the major domain name dispute resolution forums.
Brand Management
We are the largest IP
brand management practice in the world, overseeing some of the world's biggest
portfolios for more than 200 multinational companies in industries including
consumer products, retail, pharmaceuticals, food, electronic goods, media,
entertainment, information technology and communications.
We prosecute, manage
and advise on trademark, design and copyright portfolios.
In addition, we advise
and lead brand assignments and licensing, acquisitions and disposals, due
diligence, audits and franchising.
We act on trademark
and design oppositions and cancellations, and trademark, design, copyright,
passing off, domain name and unfair competition litigation and enforcement
programmes.
We further advise on
complex brand strategy questions.
Copyright & Digital Media
Evolving copyright
laws give rise to legal challenges that can carry significant commercial
implications. The constant stream of copyright cases highlights the struggle
for legislation to keep up with the pace of technological advances — as well as
the tension between rights holders and industry players.
We are able to lead
content-related deals and licensing transactions in all media and technologies.
We act at first
instance and on appeal on copyright and related rights disputes in the courts,
rate setting tribunals, levy disputes and other ADR procedures.
We also advise on
complex copyright, moral rights and related rights questions associated with
product design, content production and distribution, transactions and disputes.
We advise on copyright
and related rights legislation and regulatory reform, including legislative
drafting.
IP Disputes
With well-regarded
intellectual property litigators and dispute resolution professionals in more
than 30 countries, we have the global presence and capability to provide you
with far-reaching legal support. Our lawyers work collaboratively across
jurisdictions, applying proven strategies and know-how as well as providing a
single point of contact to help you efficiently resolve the most complex
multijurisdictional intellectual property disputes.
We lead strategic
copyright, trade mark and passing off, patent, designs, trade secrets /
confidence and unfair competition litigation.
We act in trademark,
design, copyright, passing off and unfair competition arbitration and other ADR
procedures.
We are active in
managing global, regional and local offline and online IP enforcement
programmes and investigations.
We additionally
recover domain names in all the major domain name dispute resolution forums.
We're the world's largest
full service IP litigation practice, which means that we bring together
in-market IP expertise at the local level, with cross-border experience and
perspective; moreover, we are consistently rated as one of the top IP practices
globally, with more top-tier IP litigation practices in more places than any
other firm. No one has been doing IP litigation globally longer or in more
countries than we have. We bring that perspective to every case.
Meanwhile, we have
particular expertise on IP litigation in the digital media, computer software,
technology, media, pharma and luxury and fashion sectors, and we offer
innovative fixed-fee and contingency pricing models. In some jurisdictions, we
do all IP litigation on fixed fees. We have:
• Established landlord liability for
IP infringement principles in China
• Acted in Landmark L'Oreal V Bellure Trademark
Litigation
• Acted in landmark French copyright
case related to the seminal children's story, Le Petit Prince
• We run global and regional IP
enforcement programmes for major Hollywood studios, luxury and fashion brands,
pharma companies and technology leaders
• We acted for a major digital music
retailer on a series of over 100 simultaneous moral rights claims brought
against it in Brazil
• Top Tier IP Firm APAC, EMEA and LatAm – Chambers
• Recommended Firm – World Trademark
Review WTR1000 & IAM Patent 1000
"They do a good job of cultivating some
really good people, and we're able to reap the benefits of that. We wouldn't be
using them all over the place if that weren't true!" Client
quote, Chambers