Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

The firm: Orrick is an AmLaw 50 firm with a particular focus on serving clients in the technology, energy and infrastructure, and finance sectors. Founded more than 150 years ago in San Francisco, the firm is composed of 1,100 lawyers in offices across Asia, Europe, the United States and Africa. Named as one of the ‘Global 20’ law firms six times by Law360, Orrick is recognised worldwide for delivering the highest quality, commercially oriented legal advice and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration with its clients, among its lawyers and staff, and within the local business communities. In 2017, Financial Times named Orrick as one of the 20 most innovative international law firms in the Asia-Pacific region.

Orrick’s Taipei office opened in 2005 to provide Taiwan-based high-tech and electronics companies with the IP counselling and patent litigation services that are critical to the success of businesses seeking to rapidly expand throughout the world. Since then, Orrick’s Taiwan practice has grown into a broader IP and disputes practice, working in tandem with the global technology companies practice to assist established and emerging companies across a variety of industries with all aspects of their IP rights in Taiwan, Greater China, Europe, Japan and the US.

Areas of practice: Orrick’s Taiwan practice draws on the full resources of its global IP team, which The American Lawyer selected as ‘IP Litigation Department of the Year’ for 2016. The team represents Taiwanese companies and multinationals in complex IP matters, with a focus on US patent litigation.

The team has demonstrated proficiency in trial strategy and extensive experience in patent, copyright, trade secrets and trade mark infringement actions. It assists clients in litigation matters involving unfair competition, antitrust, commercial disputes and anti-counterfeiting, and has an accomplished licensing and counselling practice advising clients on litigation avoidance and IP protection strategies. The team handles patents in various technology disciplines and represents clients in all technology transactions, including agreements to develop, license, test, market, distribute, co-brand, protect and acquire or divest technology and other IP rights.

In particular, Orrick represents clients before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office, the International Trade Commission (ITC), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and all US district and state courts. It has extensive experience guiding clients through patentability in US inter partes review proceedings. Orrick attorneys frequently appear before courts in mainland China, including China’s Patent Re-examination Board (PRB). The team has profound experience litigating patents in wireless communications, integrated circuit design, digital TV, semiconductor and liquid crystal display, among numerous other technologies.

With a focus in the technology sector, Orrick’s lawyers have represented companies including Acer, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Compal Electronics, Nanya Technology, Primax Electronics, Ralink Technology, TPK Touch Solutions, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and ViewSonic.

Orrick’s Taiwan team consists of native Taiwanese lawyers with strong connections to and local knowledge of the market. Many of them are dual-educated with advanced technical and science degrees in electrical engineering and physics. The unique combination of their legal and technical know-how allows Orrick’s lawyers to approach each legal matter with a deep understanding of the technology underlying a client’s business. Where required, Orrick also partners with leading Taiwanese counsel to provide seamless services to its clients.