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OLN IP Has Once Again Been Recognised by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022

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We are delighted to announce that OLN IP Services has once again been endorsed by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific directory for the 9th consecutive year.

OLN IP Services, a member of Oldham, Li & Nie, is ranked for Intellectual Property practice area, with our leading lawyers recommended as follows:

Practice head: Benjamin Choi

Other key lawyers: Vera Sung, Evelyne Yeung

OLN IP is led by Benjamin Choi as Managing Director, and Vera Sung, both veterans in the IP space, and backed by a seasoned team of intellectual property experts from our Hong Kong and Shanghai offices, who together bring formidable experience and depth of knowledge to provide clients with nuanced and precise IP advice tailored to their business needs. 

Legal 500 ranked leading firm - OLN IP
About The Legal 500

The Legal 500 is the world’s leading legal directory. For over 30 years, The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms in over 150 jurisdictions across the world, with a comprehensive research programme revised and updated every year to bring the most up-to-date vision of the global legal market.

OLN Has Once Again Been Endorsed by The Legal 500

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We are delighted to announce that Oldham, Li & Nie has once again been endorsed by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific directory.

OLN is ranked for Labour and Employment practice area, with our lawyers recommended as follows:

Practice head: Anna Chan

Other key lawyer: Victor Ng

Our Employment Practice is led by our Partner Anna Chan. Anna and her team handle a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment matters for high-net-worth individuals and companies. In addition to undertaking day-to-day advisory work, the team represents clients before the Labour Tribunal and in the High Court.

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific Leading Firm and Recommended Lawyer 2022 badges
About The Legal 500

The Legal 500 is the world’s leading legal directory. For over 30 years, The Legal 500 has been analysing the capabilities of law firms in over 150 jurisdictions across the world, with a comprehensive research programme revised and updated every year to bring the most up-to-date vision of the global legal market.

OLN Ranked in Chambers Greater China Region 2022

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We are delighted to announce that Oldham, Li & Nie has been ranked in the inaugural edition of Chambers Greater China Region 2022.

Chambers & Partners, the world’s leading provider of legal research and analysis, introduced its first-ever Chambers Greater China Region guide, ranking two Oldham, Li & Nie’s departments among the top in the region, with four lawyers earning individual rankings.

Ranked departments:

  • Corporate/M&A: Independent Hong Kong Firms – Band 3
  • Family/Matrimonial (International Firms) – Band 4

Ranked lawyers:

Ranked in Chambers Greater China Region 2022 Oldham, Li & Nie badge
About Chambers Greater China Region Guide

The Chambers Greater China Region Guide brings together extensive, in-depth market analysis, and rankings of the leading law firms and professionals across all four jurisdictions of the Greater China Region. It features five exclusive chapters: China (International Firms) Chapter, Hong Kong Bar Chapter, China (PRC Firms) Chapter, China Macau and Taiwan Chapters.

UAE Joining Madrid on 28 December 2021

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Benjamin Choi, Intellectual Property Consultant at OLN, shares the news about the UAE joining Madrid Protocol

To brand owners it is a super bonus (or a nice surprise) to be able to designate the United Arab Emirates under the WIPO International Registration of Trade Mark and this is happening right after the Christmas holidays on 28 Dec 2021. 

The UAE is for sure one of the most expensive countries to obtain a local national trade mark registration even assuming the application process is straightforward. In general, the minimum cost of registering one trade mark in the UAE can be 3 times the usual cost of registering one trade mark in Hong Kong. Overseas applicants also need to pay extra costs to have the formality documents notarized and legalized at the local UAE embassy office to comply with the local requirements. From 28 Dec onwards, brand owners qualified will definitely apply to register in the UAE through the IR designation to save time and costs, and can forget about running around to notarize and legalize the supporting documents.  

A few tips for brand owners
  1. The designation in the UAE will likewise be subject to substantive examination by the UAE local Trade Marks Office on inherent registrability and clearance of prior similar mark in the same standard as currently applied to a local UAE application. Simple and standard descriptions of goods and services will therefore be helpful to reduce the chances of requisition. Pre-designation clearance search of the mark is also recommended to anticipate the likelihood of prior similar mark obstacle in the examination process.
  2. There are specific rules in the UAE derived from local culture such as a trade mark cannot be registered for wine and alcoholic beverages in Class 33 and bar services in Class 43. These items should be avoided in the basic application for designation in the UAE.
  3. The time for responding to an official requisition raised by the UAE and forwarded through WIPO will be tight so it is advisable to have a local agent lined up and properly authorized to represent the Applicant to resolve any requisition or obstacle.

Hong Kong is expecting the launch of the Madrid system in the first quarter of 2023 if not earlier and for those who are interested to develop the UAE market the Madrid system can help registering the trade mark in the UAE in a much more cost effective way.

OLN Received a Bronze Law Firm Award from The Law Society of Hong Kong

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Pro Bono and Community Work Recognition from the Law Society of Hong Kong - Oldham, Li & Nie

We are pleased to announce that OLN received a Bronze Law Firm Award from the Law Society of Hong Kong as part of their Pro Bono and Community Service Work Recognition Programme 2021!

This Programme aims to promote and encourage the Law Society members performing pro bono and community work. It also serves to recognise and show appreciation to all the members, trainee solicitors, registered foreign lawyers, local law firms and foreign law firms who dedicate their valuable time to pro bono work.

A big thanks to our Pro Bono & CSR Committees and especially to Eunice Chiu, Benjamin Choi, Simon Wong, Ivan Lee, Emily Chow, Phyllis Wong, Dexter Yuen, Alex Dai and Gareth Leung. You gave not only your time and hard work, but also happy smiles which brought back many happy smiles in return!

OLN has been active in helping underprivileged communities in Hong Kong throughout the years. We organise free legal advice clinics, festive parties aimed at improving the mood, memory and physical health of the elderly, workshops for children and women living in challenging neighborhoods and webinars on legal topics relevant to vulnerable communities, all dedicated to those operating at the grassroots level.