Andrew Sim
Biography
Andrew Sim is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Hong Kong office and a member of the Firm's Intellectual Property and Technology Practice Group, where he leads the IP enforcement and litigation practice for Hong Kong.
He is the Global Chair of the Plant Variety Rights Practice, which includes registration and enforcement of plant breeders' rights. Andrew also heads the Food and Beverage (F&B) Industry Practice Group in the Greater China region and advises on all F&B related areas, including consumer, regulatory, food safety, advertisements, franchising as well as internet laws and regulations.
Practice Focus
As the past Office Lead for Consumer Goods and Retail Industry in the Firm's Beijing Office, he has experience in product recall, consumer complaints, franchise registration, product quality issues and breaches of advertiser regulations.
Andrew's practice also focuses on IP protection and enforcement in Hong Kong and China, including assisting clients in strategizing their IP rights, directing anti-counterfeiting operations as well as providing advice on licensing and commercial IP issues and agreements. His practice also includes domain name, Internet and technology laws.
Representative Legal Matters
- Assisted Starbucks Corporation in obtaining judicial well-known recognitions of its trademarks in Shanghai, Beijing and the Supreme People's Court, as well as well-known trademark recognitions in the PRC Trademark Office and PRC Trademark Review and Adjudication Board.
- Advised Starbucks Corporation on its partnership agreement with a Chinese leading food and beverage producer, Tingyi Holding Corp., to manufacture and expand the distribution of Starbucks's ready-to-drink products throughout China.
- Acted for an American fruit breeder in filing an administrative complaint successfully and obtaining the first punishment decision under the PRC Seed Law.
- Assisted Harley-Davidson in obtaining an IP protection of their unregistered trademark in a civil lawsuit before Beijing Intermediate People’s Court and Beijing Higher People’s Court.
- Assisted Hasbro in securing their first successful IP infringement lawsuit in Guangzhou.
- Assisted Louis Vuitton in obtaining its well-known trademark recognitions in the PRC Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, Beijing Intellectual Property Court and Beijing Higher People’s Court.
- Assisted Givenchy in obtaining its first well-known trademark recognition in the PRC Trademark Review and Adjudication Board.
- Assisted Moet Hennessy in securing its first successful trademark infringement lawsuit in relation to its 3-D bottle mark in Shandong province.
- Acted for OSIM International in defending the design patent invalidation action and securing a successful design patent infringement lawsuit against a Chinese infringer in respect of a massage chair product.
- Conducted a successful raid action for Vitasoy in Guangdong Province of China, in which lemon tea drink products and packaging boxes were confiscated. This is Vitasoy's first IP enforcement action in China.
Professional Honors
- Trademark Star (China / Hong Kong SAR) - Managing IP: IP Star (2019-2021)
- Recommended Lawyer (China: Foreign Firms) - WTR 1000 (2019-2021)
- Best Lawyer, Intellectual Property - BestLawyers.com (2019)
Professional Associations and Memberships
- WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre - Domain Name Panelist for China
- Law Society of Hong Kong - Member
- Singapore Academy of Law - Member
- Law Society of Singapore - Advocate & Solicitor
- New York State Bar Association - Attorney
- Lincoln's Inn - Barrister
- Law Society of England & Wales - Solicitor
Admissions
- Hong Kong (2006)
- England & Wales (non-practicing)~United Kingdom (2001)
- New York~United States (2000)
- Singapore (1998)
Education
- New York University School of Law (LL.M. Trade Regulation) (1995)
- University of Westminster (Bar Exam) (1994)
- University of Leicester (LL.B., Honors) (1993)
Languages
- Cantonese
- English
- Malay
- Mandarin
Previous Offices
- Beijing
- Shanghai