After spending nine months at Hogan Lovells' Beijing office as of counsel, IP law veteran Clifford Borg-Marks has joined Bird & Bird as special counsel. He is joined by two IP associates from Hogan Lovells' Shanghai office, Rieko Michishita and Michael Ni.

Borg-Marks is considered a pioneer in the IP field here, having handled the country's first copyright case for Sega Enterprises of Japan immediately after the introduction of the PRC Copyright Law. He also conducted the first look-alike trade dress case in Shanghai (for Chupa Chups SA of Spain) when the Unfair Competition Law came into force, and the first cyber-squatting dispute decided by CIETAC (for PepsiCo).

As the new special counsel in Bird & Bird's Beijing office, Borg-Marks' focus is on portfolio management, licensing, due diligence and lobbying. 

Michishita is now based in Beijing and focuses on assisting Japanese companies with their IP issues in China, while Ni has relocated from Shanghai to Hong Kong for China and Asia-wide matters.

The new appointments follow the hiring of new Shanghai partner Li Weishi from O'Melveny & Myers in November and the establishment of an association with Beijing firm Xiang Kun in May.
Bird & Bird now has over 30 fee earners, including seven partners, in its Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong offices. It also has a wholly owned subsidiary trademark agency in Beijing. ALB

Related stories: