New-look WIPR Leaders 2024 is ‘most rigorous’ yet

List features peer-reviewed IP lawyers from across six continents | 2024 edition “most comprehensive and rigorous” to date, says rankings editor | Data reveals gender ratio and practice area concentration by continent.

WIPR Insights has launched its biggest and most comprehensive WIPR Leaders 2024, which profiles best-in-class IP practitioners across the length and breadth of the global IP community.

Following months of rigorous research and preparation, the 2024 edition, launched officially today, June 2, includes approximately 2,000 lawyers from 83 countries across six continents.

Practitioners from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa feature in the much-anticipated list, with countries ranging from Argentina to Zimbabwe.

Smaller countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Guatemala, Liechtenstein, Serbia and Uruguay rub shoulders with IP powerhouses such as the US, Canada, UK, Germany and China.

Leaders’ expertise spans the full spectrum of IP practices, including patents, trademarks, design, copyright, licensing and trade secrets, and ranges from dispute resolution, to litigation and prosecution.

Industry specialisms among practitioners cover entertainment, healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, media and technology.

A ‘living’ resource

Baron Armah-Kwantreng, WIPR Insights’ rankings editor, said that the newly launched Leaders is arguably the most extensive, diverse list that the team has produced in almost a decade since it began.

“What we’re offering with Leaders 2024 is a revitalised product, with new energy,” he said.

The list is a ‘living’ resource, which the research team will build upon throughout the year. This approach, explained Armah-Kwantreng, will align with the more rigorous approach that WIPR Insights takes for the wider law firm rankings.

“Leaders is a really positive product, which people really engage with. What we’re offering is a really rich resource, which will continually evolve.”

He added that the new list features high-profile leaders at larger firms, as well as practitioners at smaller firms who may not have had an international profile in the past.

The process of selection involved canvassing the opinions of 50,000 IP professionals from across the world; a nomination drive which generated nearly 600 lawyer nominations; and rigorous in-house research and vetting.

‘Jewel in the crown’

According to Armah-Kwantreng, this year’s list underlines the collaborative nature of the global IP community.

“At its heart, the list is a referral network bound by mutual trust between private practice lawyers working collaboratively across firms and continents on their clients’ most important IP matters,” he said.

"The “jewel in the crown” of the list, he added, is that it is driven by peer-review recommendations.

For example, a peer of Stephanie Foy at Mishcon de Reya in London said: “Stephanie is a talented, confident and highly intuitive litigator with a strong commercial sense. She has superb client skills and the quality of her work is deeply impressive. She can see the way through the most complex of IP issues. I would trust her with any client and any matter.”

And according to a client of Felipe Oquendo, of Di Blasi, Parente & Asociados, “Felipe is by far one of the most trustworthy and knowledgeable attorneys in Brazil.”

Gender ratios revealed

The list also reveals the gender ratio of lawyers profiled on each continent, with women representing less than half across the board.

For example, the lowest ratio of women on the list compared with men is in Africa, with 35% women, 65% men. This is followed by Asia, Latin America and Europe.

The highest ratio of women to men is in North America, with 45% women, 55% men.

Across the continents, men dominate patents with a ratio of 63% to 37% for women, with trademarks not too dissimilar at a ratio of 57% men, 43% women.

The Leaders list also uncovers some interesting concentrations by practice area, with Europe showing a strong focus on patent law, particularly in life sciences and technology sectors.

In North America, practice areas among Leaders are dominated by patents and trademarks, while in Asia, there is a significant emphasis on trademarks and IP litigation.

In Latin America, the focus is balanced between patents and trademarks, while Leaders in Africa focus predominantly on trademarks.

The full list can be viewed here.

Coming soon from WIPR Insights in 2024 are China Patent Rankings, China Trademark Rankings, Global Trade Secrets Rankings and more.

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