Managing IP's exclusive survey of the world IP market, now in its 12th year of publication, provides a unique perspective on IP practice – based on the experiences of hundreds of clients and practitioners worldwide. In the following pages, we reveal which firms are recommended, as well as which are rated in the top tier, covering both prosecution and contentious work.
Over the past five months, our team of five researchers based in London, New York and Hong Kong have spoken to hundreds of practitioners and in-house counsel to gather information about the patent market in 65 jurisdictions. Many more lawyers and attorneys have completed detailed questionnaires providing information on their own practice, other firms and the overall trends in the IP market. We have also contacted many in-house counsel to ask their views on the outside advisers they use and recommend in each jurisdiction.
The results of this research are detailed rankings of the leading firms practising intellectual property in each country. As in the past three years, the lists of the leading firms are presented in the form of tiers. The total number of firms listed in each jurisdiction varies according to the size of the market.
This means that the survey is not an exhaustive list of every firm in each jurisdiction; even firms listed in the lower tiers have been recommended by a number of practitioners and deserve congratulations on their inclusion. Those in the top tiers received the most recommendations for the quality and depth of their practice.
The World IP Survey is not simply a list of the biggest firms, or a list of those that have the biggest caseload or are the oldest. Instead, it is a qualitative ranking of the leading firms in each category and reveals which firms are rated by their peers for the strength of their expertise and the depth of their ability to service clients.
What's new this year
For the first time, this year's IP survey includes separate listings for firms in different regions of the United States. Our decision reflects growing client demand for good quality local IP advice – unsurprising in a country as big, and as regionally diverse, as the US.
This year we also include two new tables in the US rankings that list the leading firms for biotech and life sciences advice and for work before the International Trade Commission. The addition of these new rankings reflects how clients in the burgeoning biotech and life sciences industry in the US are increasingly demanding sophisticated, specialist advice from outside counsel with plenty of industry-specific experience, as well as the growing importance of the ITC as a litigation forum both for US and foreign companies.
The first part of the 2008 annual World IP Survey, covering patent work, was published in the February 2008 issue of Managing IP. The second part, covering trade mark work, was published in the March issue. This year, for the first time, we also published a third part of the survey in the April issue. This lists the leading firms for copyright in key jurisdictions. The full results were re-published, together with detailed analysis of the market trends in each country and information about the listed firms, in the annual IP Contacts Handbook. This also has detailed analysis of the tables and the trends in each jurisdiction, lists of prominent individuals and comments from rivals and clients.
| Methodology |
The results of Managing IP's survey are based on extensive research and interviews with practitioners worldwide.
A team of researchers based in London, Hong Kong and New York contacted firms in 65 jurisdictions to ask them for information and feedback on the rankings. Client feedback was also sought.
Based on this research, firms are ranked in tiers in each jurisdiction. In most jurisdictions, there are separate tables for prosecution and contentious work.
Prosecution work includes filing of patents or trade marks and associated work. Please note that the survey does not distinguish between firms that draft patents themselves and firms that derive a large part of their prosecution work from refiling patents originally drafted in other jurisdictions. The latter offer a valuable service to IP owners and are often recommended and hence are included in the survey.
Contentious work includes all other legal work, such as enforcement and licensing.
Firms that handle both prosecution and contentious work are eligible to appear in both tables.
The tiers reflect the perception of the leading firms in each market, with the top tier listing those firms regarded as having the strongest practices in each category. Within each tier, firms are listed alphabetically.
All firms included, in all tiers, will have received several recommendations and endorsements in order to be included in the rankings.
No one outside of Managing IP has seen the final rankings before publication.
No firm can vote for its own inclusion, or recommend an associated or sister firm in another jurisdiction.
The rankings reflect the state of the market when the research was conducted, between September 2007 and January 2008.
Managing IP itself does not recommend or endorse any particular firms. |