Global law firm Clyde & Co has today announced the appointment of Elliot Papageorgiou as a Partner in its Shanghai office. Elliot is joined by a team of four China-qualified and licensed lawyers, including one who is also a China-qualified and licensed patent attorney, who will join Clyde & Co’s Joint Law Venture (JLV) Clyde & Co Westlink.
Elliot joins from Rouse, where for the past 12 years he has built an Intellectual Property (IP) practice in the Asia Pacific, and especially China, which focuses on the full IP-lifecycle, from strategic IP protection and portfolio advice, through to IP exploitation and commercialisation, IP enforcement and litigation.
Elliot has seen IP as his ‘calling’ since his university days in Australia, having focused his honours research on pharmaceutical patent protection. Following university he joined a top Australian firm’s IP department, before relocating to the UK where he read IP for the BCL at St Catherine’s College, Oxford. He then worked on projects involving IP commercialisation and enforcement in Central and Eastern Europe, where he put his linguistic skills in Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian and German to good use.
In 2005 he made the move to China, where he has been advising international and especially European clients, who value him as an experienced and trusted legal advisor. Elliot is widely recognised as a leader in the IP field by publications such as Intellectual Asset Management (IAM), World Trade Mark Review, Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) and by industry guides such as Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.
Through Clyde & Co Westlink the firm is able to offer clients local law capability in combination with international expertise through a dedicated team of practitioners based in China. New additions to Clyde & Co Westlink include local partners Zhengquan Gu and Leo Tang; Senior Associate Molly Zhuang and Ying Ying who is an Associate.
Elliot Papageorgiou says of joining Clyde & Co: “The Clyde & Co Westlink JLV provides a unique combination of international legal expertise, and strong ‘on-the-ground’ China experience. It offers the best of both worlds for clients, for the team, and for me. We are looking forward to extending the reach of Clyde & Co’s existing IP offering across China, and indeed across the region, thereby offering clients strategic IP solutions in one of the most, if not the most, exciting IP jurisdictions in the world.”
The introduction of this experienced and well-regarded IP team into China represents a major step in the strategic expansion of Clyde & Co’s IP offering in key locations internationally. Sitting beside the firm’s existing award-winning IP practice in multiple locations across the Middle East, the new team in China provides Clyde & Co with the ability to support clients’ IP interests in two of the most important emerging markets globally. The firm also has a strong capability for contentious and commercial IP work in the UK, led by the highly experienced David Wilkinson who joined the firm in 2015. Since then, the firm has grown the team of IP specialists in the UK to nine, including the highly respected patent litigator, Ralph Cox.
The UK and Middle East IP teams already work seamlessly together for clients requiring support on multi-jurisdictional matters, in particular on cross-border IP disputes. With historic trade routes flowing from China through the Middle East into Europe, the firm’s ability to provide end-to-end support as a one-stop-shop is almost unique and extremely important in today’s free flowing markets, particularly in relation to IP infringements.
Clyde & Co Partner and Head of IP, Rob Deans, comments: “We are delighted to have a team of this calibre join us in such a key market for any IP-owning business. The leadership, experience and enthusiasm that Elliot brings to the firm, together with a highly capable and motivated team, provides us with a unique ability to serve our clients in China. I very much look forward to working with Elliot, Zhengquan and the rest of the team.”
Clyde & Co Partner and Managing Director – Asia, Ik Wei Chong, adds: “As the Chinese economy continues to mature, there is significant demand for the firm to extend our services in the region into IP. Elliot is very passionate about IP and globally recognised as a leading practitioner in his field. We look forward to having him as part of our growing China team.”
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