Norton Rose has hired IP litigator Huw Evans from Allen & Overy in London. Evans, who works predominantly on patent cases, will join Norton Rose as a partner in its dispute resolution practice. He is the third new partner to join the team since July 2012, following the appointments of Neil O'May and Liam O'Connell, who joined from Bindams and CMS Cameron McKenna respectively.
Qualifying in 1992, Evans worked at Wragge & Co before leaving for Allen & Overy in 2009 as part of a double move alongside Neville Cordell, who joined from DLA Piper. He has acted on a broad range of patent cases, including Unilever v Colgate, Pfizer v Teva and Virgin Atlantic v Premium Aircraft, the latter regarding flat bed airplane seats. He has also represented clients in trade mark actions, including Gillette v Wisdom and Green v Regalzone.
With the hire of Evans, Norton Rose's London IP team grows to four partners and 15 associates. It is led by EMEA IP head Mike Knapper. In June 2013 the firm's global IP practice will grow to 200 fee earners when its merger with Fulbright & Jaworski goes live. Overall, the new Norton Rose Fulbright firm will have 3,800 lawyers in 55 offices.
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AMERICAS
IP litigator Matthew Harper, previously of Thompson & Knight, has joined SNR Denton's Dallas office.
Jordan Weinstein, formerly a partner with Oblon Spivak McClelland Maier & Neustadt, has joined Barnes & Thornburg in Washington, DC.
Norton Rose has strengthened its Canadian IP team by hiring Anthony de Fazekas as a partner in its Toronto office, from Miller Thomson.
Six litigators have left Workman Nydegger to join IP boutique Maschoff Gilmore & Israelsen. Larry Laycock and David Wright join as senior shareholders and will lead MGI's litigation practice alongside MGI attorney CJ Veverka. Tyson Hottinger, Jared Braithwaite, Adam Beckstrom and Taylor Wright join as associates.
Cooley has recruited IP partners Walter Hanchuk and John Kheit from Chadbourne & Parke in New York, where Hanchuk was chair of the IP practice and Kheit led the mobile technology practice.
IP management and legal outsourcing company CPA Global has expanded its Asian operations by opening a regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
ASIA
Llinks has added Selena She as a partner in their Shanghai office. Prior to joining Llinks she was with Orrick in its Shanghai office.
Kilpatrick Townsend has opened an office in Shanghai. Kenneth Chang, previously an IP partner in the firm's Denver office, will lead it.
Singapore and Kuala Lumpur-based Ella Cheong Spruson & Ferguson has split. The patent practice continues as part of Spruson and Ferguson, the Australia-based firm, while the trade mark, design, and copyright practices of the firm have spun off as Ella Cheong LLC, which will be affiliated with the firm Ella Cheong (Hong Kong and Beijing) – which also practises patent litigation. Firm namesake Ella Cheong (pictured) is the head of both firms.
Former Baker & McKenzie partner Joseph Simone has left to start his own consultancy firm, Simone IP Services (SIPS). Based in Hong Kong, SIPS will focus on trade mark registration, enforcement and portfolio management in China and the Asia-Pacific region.
EUROPE
The Court of Justice of the EU has appointed Nils Wahl as advocate general. Wahl, a judge at the general court since October 2006, will replace Verica Trstenjak on a six-year term running to October 2018.
Hoyng Monegier has hired life sciences specialist Carla Schoonderbeek as its 21st partner. Schoonderbeek joins from Hogan Lovells and brings along Bart Jong, who will take on a counsel role. The two lawyers will work out of Hoyng Monegier's Amsterdam and Brussels offices.
EIP has hired mobile telecommunications specialist James Seymour from Nokia. Seymour, who has also worked in-house for Hewlett-Packard, joins the firm's electronics practice in its London office. His recruitment will bring EIP's partner count to 15.
The Medicines Patent Pool has appointed Greg Perry as its new executive director. Perry, previously the director-general of the European Generic Medicines Association (EGMA), will assume his new role on January 7 2013. Perry founded the EGMA in 1993, and is a founding member of the International Generic Pharmaceutical Alliance.