Bird & Bird celebrates four wins at Managing IP awards

Bird & Bird won awards for firm of the year in Germany, Spain and Singapore, and also took the award for European patent firm.

The UK-headquartered firm expanded its operations to Singapore at the start of this year after finalising a global association agreement with leading local firm Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva (ATMD). Its new office in Singapore is known as ATMD Bird & Bird.

Baker & McKenzie took two awards last night - the Russia country award and the award for Asia-Pacific firm of the year. Its wide network of offices in the region, as well as its strong record on tackling counterfeiting in Asia, helped secure its Asia-Pacific win.

The award for French IP prosecution firm was made to Casalonga-Josse, while Véron et Associés was named French contentious IP firm. In Germany, the prosecution award went to Boehmert & Boehmert, and the contentious IP award went to Bird & Bird.

In total, more than 50 awards were presented to the leading firms in Europe, Asia and Latin America at a black-tie dinner held at The Dorchester. Nokia was named in-house team of the year, recognising that over the past few years its IP department has been at the centre of a series of complex and landmark test cases involving patents and technical standards, as well as helping the company to develop a novel licensing model for delivering music via mobile devices.

Some 250 guests attended the dinner from more than 30 countries.

Managing IP also presented an outstanding achievement award during the evening. This year's award was made to Wubbo de Boer, president of OHIM on the day that the European Commission said that CTM fees would be reduced by 40% with effect from May 1.

"Since his appointment nine years ago, Mr de Boer has overseen growth in the Community trade mark and design systems," said Emma Barraclough, editor of Managing IP . "Moreover, he has led the transformation of the OHIM into an office that leads the way in efficiency, use of IT and customer service, winning acclaim from trade mark users worldwide."

A full list of awards winners is available here .

Full reports, and photos, from the awards dinner will be published in the May 2008 issue of Managing IP , available online on May 1. It will also carry pictures and reports from the magazine's second annual North America Awards ceremony, held in Washington DC on March 26.