Winnie Tam SC of Des Voeux Chambers and Charmaine Koo of Deacons hosted their first collaborative IP seminar entitled Crossroads on Intellectual Property Law: Arbitration, Brexit & Recent Hong Kong Cases on Saturday, 8 April 2017. Featuring Simon Thorley QC as the keynote speaker, and with contributions from up-and-coming Des Voeux Chambers’ barristers Benny Lo, Jason Yu, Tom Ng and Stephanie Wong, there was a full house at Club Lusitano.
Simon Thorley QC opened the breakfast plenary with a deliberation of how the patent and trademark landscapes are changing within the context of Brexit. He remarked that whilst there was uncertainty with trade marks as they related to European legislation, the UK will subscribe to the Unitary Patent Court Agreement and the influence of European judgments on UK IP law will subsist.
Winnie Tam SC and Charmaine Koo gave us a ‘talking heads’ style commentary on the shifting tailwinds giving rise to an uptick in arbitration in IP disputes. They exchanged views on the advantages of arbitration and its prospects of development from a Hong Kong perspective and highlighted the new provisions soon to be enacted in the Arbitration Ordinance confirming the arbitrability of IP rights, and a possible future regime allowing for third party funding.
Some of DVC’s junior Members shared their insights and observations on recent Hong Kong case law and this was followed by a lively and interactive Q& A session moderated by Ling Chun Wai.
