Now online: IP Stars 2016 Copyright Rankings

We are delighted to announce that we have published the remaining 2016 rankings of the top firms for copyright work in over 20 jurisdictions. These comprise: Australia, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States. 

These are the final firm rankings for this year. All of those firms listed this year deserve congratulations on being included. All the rankings you see on IP Stars website will remain unchanged, save for any later changes to firm names, until we publish new rankings in 2017.

Firms are ranked in “Tiers”, or as "Highly Recommended" or "Recommended" for each practice area. Tiers 1 and 2 are our top-tier rankings. The total number of firms listed, as well as tiers, varies by jurisdiction.

For the prosecution ranking we consider all work before the IP office, both pre- and post-grant. The contentious ranking considers dispute resolution and all other IP-related legal work.

For the copyright ranking we consider both non-contentious (such as licensing) and dispute resolution work. The top-tier firms are those we reasonably believe have specialists who can advise rights holders on the cutting edge issues in copyright.

Another important attribute of these firms is that they represent clients in a broad range of copyright-based industries – from publishing and entertainment to technology. 

You can read all the firm rankings in over 70 jurisdictions for free simply by clicking here.

The IP Stars rankings are based on extensive research carried out over a six-month period, starting from October each year. To produce the rankings, our team of researchers in London, New York and Hong Kong obtain information from thousands of firms and their clients by phone, online surveys, email and in face-to-face meetings. Researchers also conduct desk research for other available information. The attributes assessed include the firm’s workload and its sophistication, quality of work and strength of the team.

The research is independent and rigorous. No firm can pay to be included, or solicit recommendations, and Managing IP does not recommend or endorse any particular firms or individuals.

All the 2016 rankings are based on information available when the research was concluded. Please see more information below.

The firm analysis and individual IP stars list still on our website are from the 2015 edition of the IP Stars handbooks. Later in the year we will publish our latest commentaries on the ranked firms, and the 2016 list of individual IP stars on the website. These, including all the rankings, will also be published in the 2016 edition of the IP Stars handbooks.

The copyright rankings are also published in the April paper issue of Managing IP, which is distributed to subscribers. Subscribe online to order your own copy.

For more information on IP Stars, including details of how to participate, publication dates, FAQs and for advertising enquiries, see our new post on the IP Stars website.

The research for 2017 rankings starts again later this year! For the latest news and developments follow @IP_STARS and @ManagingIP.