Patent-based deals and major disputes continue to attract widespread attention; while in the United States, the roll-out of the America Invents Act is having a significant impact on how rights owners manage their portfolios. In Europe, too, change is in the air, with the prospect of a unitary patent court and a single patent right covering much of the European Union now a distinct possibility. In various other parts of the world, patent law and practice are moving ever closer to the heart of the corporate agenda. All around the globe, it seems that policy makers, companies, investors and financial markets have realised that patents are highly valuable business assets whose creation, management, protection and exploitation can boost revenues, build profits and drive economies. Thus, the ability to locate the top individual practitioners, as well as attorney and law firms, which provide patent-related work to the highest standards has never been more important. This is where the IAM Patent 1000 comes in.

Over a period of five months, a dedicated, six-person IAM research team based in London and Hong Kong conducted detailed interviews with hundreds of private practice lawyers and attorneys, as well as the users of their services, in countries across the world. The aim was to identify the practitioners and practices that companies turn to when only the best patent work will do – whether that be in terms of procurement, transactions or disputes. The firms and individuals listed on the following pages are the result of this research.

All those named in the IAM Patent 1000 are there because we received substantial positive feedback about them. While we cannot claim to have captured every top name in every country that we cover, we can say with some confidence that we have included the vast majority. And we are certain that everybody who is listed deserves to be there. A full methodology detailing how the research was conducted, as well as the subsequent decision-making process about whom to include, can be found on here.

In addition to the editorial on leading practitioners and firms, you will find directories at the end of each country section (regional sections for the United States) in which biographical details of some of the individuals mentioned are featured. Towards the end of the publication, another directory provides further information about some of the firms which are listed. All of those selected for inclusion in the IAM Patent 1000 were offered the opportunity to publish this information for a fee – some decided that they wished to, while others declined. Inclusion in the editorial is in no way linked to this: the research was conducted entirely independent of any commercial considerations.

Joff Wild
Editor
Intellectual Asset Management