Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

The firm: Orrick is a modern, inclusive, global law firm focused on serving the Tech & Innovation, Energy & Infrastructure and Finance sectors. Based in 25+ markets worldwide, we help our clients grow and innovate, we protect them and we help them win. We prioritize diversity (Mansfield Plus Certified for four years in a row), innovation (Financial Times Top 3 Most Innovative firms for eight years in a row) and being a best place to work (Fortune Best Companies To Work For also for nine years in a row). And these values help us attract and develop top talent and inspire collaboration in order to provide forward-thinking advice to the world’s most innovative companies.

Orrick’s China team has been active in China for many decades. Our Beijing and Shanghai offices, provide legal services to both Chinese and international clients in cross-border M&A and private equity, capital markets, intellectual property, dispute resolution and regulatory compliance, data privacy and cybersecurity, across the technology & innovation, energy & infrastructure and financial services sectors as well as the life sciences and consumer/retail industries. We advise Chinese private and state-owned enterprises in cross-border investments in Southeast Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa, ranging from high profile e-commerce retailers and robotics manufacturers to natural gas exploration and refinement energy to energy and infrastructure projects.

Areas of practice

Technology and Innovation

Leading Chinese and multinational tech companies, private equity and venture capital firms turn to us for growth and investment strategies. We represent major Chinese state-owned and private enterprises on inbound and outbound M&A and corporate venture investments, IP and data strategies. Our tech sector experience - automotive technology and mobility, e-commerce, life sciences, and fintech - helps support the fast-growing and disruptive China tech market. Our client base includes some of the biggest Chinese and Asian tech companies, such as JD.com, one of China’s largest online retailer; Baidu, the world’s largest autonomous vehicle open source operating system provider and second-largest search engine; Trax Retail, a Singapore headquartered unicorn; Chinese internet giant Tencent Technology and cell phone maker Xiaomi, -, as well as the world’s largest LED panel manufacturer BOE Technology. We also help numerous foreign multinational corporations such as Canon, Cerence, Microsoft, Micron, Panasonic, Schlumberger and Toyota in their practical issues and dispute matters relating to their China operations.

Intellectual Property

We assist multinationals in all aspects of IP in China, the U.S. and beyond. Our team have been consistently ranked among the top-tier firms in China by Managing Intellectual Property, Asian Legal Business and IAM Patent 1000. We have a combined legal and practical industry experience, gained by members of our team who have worked in various industries as engineers and scientists before they became lawyers. Their background offers a distinct advantage in tech transactions, including agreements to develop, license, test, market, distribute, co-brand, protect and acquire or divest technology and other IP rights as well as assisting them on their strategic decisions and planning for their most contentious and important IP disputes.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce named Orrick as a "preferred U.S. law firm" to represent Chinese companies before the U.S. International Trade Commission in patent infringement litigation. We have handled thousands of China patent and trademark applications and more than 100 patent, trademark, copyright, domain name and trade secret-related disputes in China and the U.S. Our Chinese clients include AT&M, Baidu, Haier, Hisense, Xiaomi, BOE, SMIC, Shenzhen Howshow Technology and Shanghai Sansi Electronic Engineering Co. and our select foreign clients include Canon, Microsoft, Micron, Panasonic and Schlumberger.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

We offer Chinese companies one of the leading litigation platforms – including litigators who have experience understanding the unique risks and considerations China-based clients facing disputes around the world. We represent clients in commercial litigation, product liability, trade secrets misappropriation, intellectual property and regulatory investigations. We have a renowned international arbitration practice that represents clients and sovereign states before all major arbitral institutions and acted under all leading sets of rules including BITs, ECT, ICC, WIPO and CIETAC. A key strength is our ability to integrate with other offices to deliver optimized solutions for clients. We have represented a subsidiary of Bayer HealthCare in a product liability and personal injury case and China National Building Materials on a multi-billion class action lawsuit. We also successfully defended AT&M in a trade secrets misappropriation investigation before the US ITC and successfully represented Baidu, Haier, Hisense, BOE and others against patent trolls in both U.S. federal courts and International Trade Commission.

Investment Funds

We play a key strategic role with boutique and institutional private investment fund sponsors and institutional investors in formation and management of investment funds throughout the Asia-Pacific markets. We have a strong track record of advising on the formation of many of the first Asia-based hedge funds and private equity funds and their pioneering cross-border investments. Our clients include Asian hedge funds managed by independent managers, Asian PE funds sponsored by global financial institutions, and Asian institutional investors investing in regional and global funds including Silk Road Fund, Intermediate Capital Group, China-LAC Cooperation Fund and China Resources Capital Management.

Cyber, Privacy & Data Protection

Our China Data Privacy & Cybersecurity practice assist Chinese and multinational corporations in their most critical privacy and cybersecurity projects at global and regional level. Deploying a “hub and spoke model,” our lawyers manage and review advice from counsel in other jurisdictions to ensure a consistent approach to the advice our clients receive. Our global reach and experience allow us to advise clients from a global regulatory perspective, adhere to differing compliance requirements, helping reconcile the varying legal requirements in multiple jurisdictions. We also work on the most demanding and urgent cybersecurity matters specific to China and help multinational clients handle high-stakes cross-border investigations, litigation, and compliance matters in China, U.S., European Union, and United Kingdom.

Blockchain and Virtual Currency

We deliver thoughtful and cutting-edge advice that helps propel the industry forward while providing the legal framework to withstand regulatory scrutiny. We represent both Chinese and foreign blockchain and virtual currency firms on intellectual property, technology contracting, corporate governance, and venture capital financing transactions, including among others, blockchain networks, exchanges, fundraising, token offerings, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), compliance, litigation, SEC and government investigations, technology licensing, product development, securitization of digital assets as well as stable coins and custody. In addition, our strong regulatory and litigation practices provide representation on securities enforcement, litigation, employment, regulatory and compliance matters.