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Clifford Chance welcomed two new associates to its China IP team, but saw the departure of consultant Audrey Shum in 2010. The team now has nine fee earners under the leadership of partner Ling Ho, who is the head of the Asia IP group and of litigation and dispute resolution in China. The group has received more instructions from clients in the media and technology and healthcare sectors in recent years. The additions of Nokia and Pfizer to the firm's client base last year show increasing expertise in the telecommunications and pharmaceutical sectors.

While international law firm Clifford Chance is best represented by its commercial and transactional work, its IP department is quite notable in playing an instrumental role in a number of deals. In Paris, this practice is led by Jean-Frédéric GaulTier and of counsel Christian Lachèze. The team is currently acting for Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations with the setting up of a subsidiary specialised in IP and technology transfer services, sponsored by the French government in order to finance and consolidate innovation in France. This matter brought together a joint team of IP, antitrust, public law and tax experts due to state financing of a competitive entity and very specific IP rights tax related issues. Delphine de Chalvron also deserves mention this year for her assistance to Technicolor with respect to the IP aspect of its Grass Valley Broadcast sale. The difficulty lay in providing the buyer attractive access to Technicolor's patent portfolio, while retaining sufficient rights for Technicolor that its portfolio would continue generating revenues. The team is also active in patent and copyright litigation.

Clifford Chance has a formidable team in Spain, most notably in contentious patent work, where partner Miquel Montañá is recognised as one of the strongest individuals for pharmaceutical matters. It had an active year in trade mark work and moves up a Tier.

Through 2010 the firm represented clients including Novartis, which it advised in a number of high-profile cases, Pfizer, Philip Morris International and Reckitt Benckiser. In a recent case the firm acted for Bayer Cropscience and DuPont De Nemours in a criminal dispute protecting their patent rights and hitting out at the illegal market for phytosanitary products. The firm also successfully represented DuPont in patent validity and infringement proceedings against Safety Hi-Tech in Barcelona.

The firm advised Eli Lilly in patent infringement proceedings against companies that have obtained marketing authorisation for olanzapine generics and, on the trade mark side, acted for Honda in various court proceedings involving infringement of its Community trade marks by way of parallel imports. The latter case resulted in damages and injunctions against three companies.

The IP practice at Clifford Chance consists of 16 fee earners, including two part-time and one full-time partner. Though unranked this year, the firm has recently been appointed to the Pfizer panel, which will no doubt provide possibilities for future development and work from this new client in the IP area. Full-time partner Vanessa Marsland is well versed in all aspects of IP, with over 20 years as a partner at the firm. The firm's practice retains clients such as Aston Martin, Kraft and Thomson Reuters. A long-fought software licence dispute for client Thomson Reuters finally came to a close in the summer of 2010, with the matter being settled.