Law firm says multinationals need to do more to protect trademarks

Baker & McKenzie elects next chairman… Herbert Smith Freehills M&A partner appointed editor of AJCL… Weak market conditions hits jobs for new Singapore law grads…

Law firm says multinationals need to do more to protect trademarks
A report from international law firm Hogan Lovells says that multinational companies are typically failing to do enough to protect their trademarks.
Despite 76 per cent of firms registering trademarks in at least 75 countries, they are not being active enough to ensure that protection of their trademarks is being enforced.
The majority (60 per cent) take little or no action in dealing with grey market parallel imports and 30 per cent of brand owners don’t register their trademarks with any customs authorities.
Hogan Lovells’ head of IP in Asia-Pacific said that difficulty in navigating different countries’ enforcement methods is deterring multinationals from taking the necessary action.
 
Baker & McKenzie elects next chairman
Paul Rawlinson has been elected as the next chairman of the Baker & McKenzie, succeeding Eduardo Leite who has held the role since 2010.
Rawlinson is an IP lawyer and has been the managing partner of Baker & McKenzie’s London office since 2013 and joined the firm in 1986, making partner ten years later.
He will take up the position on October 23rd following the firm’s annual general meeting in Spain and will remain as managing partner of the London office until his successor is named in September.
 
Herbert Smith Freehills M&A partner appointed editor of AJCL
Tony Damian, M&A partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, has been appointed as an editor of the Australian Journal of Corporate Law. He will co-edit the Journal with corporate and insolvency law professor Christopher Symes of Adelaide University.
 
Weak market conditions hits jobs for new Singapore law grads
Law graduates are finding it harder to find work in Singapore. A warning was issued two years ago that the market was making it hard to sustain high levels of trainees and it appears that retention rates are proving that case.
TodayOnline.com reports that the oversupply of trainees is exacerbated by Singaporeans studying overseas and returning home looking for work. Law Ministry data shows an increase of almost 50 per cent in 2015 and of those trainees that have secured an offer, around half have been forced to accept a less attractive deal.