Lau Kok Keng has been in practice in Singapore since 1990. His main practice areas are Intellectual Property, IT & Media law. Within these areas, he handles both contentious and non-contentious work.

Kok Keng is recognised as a leading lawyer in his fields by publications such as Chambers Asia Pacific, Asian Legal Business Asia's Who's Who, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Asialaw Profiles Leading Lawyers, Who's Who Legal Singapore, The Best Lawyers in Singapore, and Managing Intellectual Property. In addition, Kok Keng has consistently been featured in The International Who's Who of Internet, e-Commerce & Data Protection Lawyers, The International Who's Who of Sports & Entertainment Lawyers, The International Who's Who of Information Technology Lawyers, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific and Who's Who Legal: Telecommunications, Media & Technology and Data, placing him amongst the world's pre-eminent lawyers in these respective fields. Most recently, Rajah & Tann's IP Practice, headed by Kok Keng, has been recognised as the 2nd top law firm for Intellectual Property law under the Straits Times' Singapore Best Law Firms in 2021

Kok Keng is also currently a member of the Singapore Copyright Tribunal, and serves as an IP Arbitrator with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

Kok Keng undertakes a broad range of advisory, transactional and contentious Intellectual Property work. Some of his more recent IP cases include acting for a developer of a popular mobile game in defending against a suit brought by a rival game developer claiming copyright ownership in game concepts, a solar energy provider in a patent infringement suit, a franchisee of an American coffee company on its brand promotional activities with a multinational bank, a major tobacco company in its submissions to the Singapore health authorities on the effect of proposed plain packaging laws on the rights of trade mark proprietors, an international sports federation in taking enforcement action against ambush marketing activities in relation to the world's most-watched international sports event, and a pay-TV operator on piracy issues arising from the use of illegal android boxes. Kok Keng regularly drafts, advises on and negotiates IT-related agreements such as software licenses, IT consultancy and services agreements, systems integration agreements, and IT project implementation agreements.

Kok Keng's intellectual property and technology clients include technology companies, television broadcasters, cable operators, copyright licensing organisations, copyright licensees, major software and hardware manufacturers, computer gaming companies, internet service providers, sports organisations, terrestrial and online gaming operators, movie production houses, inventors, authors, publishers and tertiary educational institutions.

Vasco Stilwell d’Andrade joined Morais Leitão in 2008 and became a partner in 2021. He is co-head of the intellectual property team as well as co-coordinator of Team Genesis.

Vasco works predominantly in the intellectual property field, namely in protection strategy and implementation, licensing, assignments, valuation and litigation. He is frequently retained to assist clients in the resolution of complex and high-stakes disputes involving trademarks, patents, copyright and trade secrets. Within the patent litigation area, Vasco is very experienced in pharmaceutical patent litigation and the way it is intertwined with the regulatory field.

Vasco Stilwell d’Andrade is an accredited Industrial Property Agent (Agente Oficial da Propriedade Industrial) at the Portuguese Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) and a registered Professional Representative before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). He also represents clients in proceedings at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO).

Prior to joining the firm, Vasco Stilwell d’Andrade worked as an intellectual property consultant for several law and patent attorney firms. He was also a trainee at the Portuguese Patent and Trademark Office and has obtained accreditation from WIPO and Fédération Internationale de Conseils en Propriété Industrielle (FICPI).

He is the author of various publications on IP matters and has served as Chair of the Lex Mundi Intellectual Property Group during the term of 2019-2021. He is also a member of the Board of LES Spain-Portugal, the regional Chapter of Licensing Executive Society International (LESI), since 2016. Vasco is also regularly invited to speak on IP issues at universities and other forums.

In 2022, Vasco was awarded the prize of Lawyer of the Year – Sport at theIberian Lawyer IP & TMT Awards.

Felipe Claro is in charge of the Intellectual Property Practice Group and has extensive experience in advising national and multinational clients.

He has been Director (1996-2008) and Vice-President (2006-2007) of the Chilean Association of Industrial Property (ACHIPI); President of ASIPI’s Young Lawyers Committee (1999-2001); President of ASIPI’s Internet Committee (1999-2003); President of ASIPI’s Patent Committee (2004-2006); ASIPI Committees Coordinator (2006-2009); LEX MUNDI IP Practice Group Regional Vice-Chair (2001-2007); Alternate Delegate of ASIPI before the Intellectual Property Constituency, ICANN (1999-2003); Arbitrator of the Chilean Country Code Domain Registrar, NIC Chile, (1998-2013); WIPO Panelist; INTA Panel of Neutrals (2005-2008); AIPPI Statutes Committee Secretary (2007-2009); ACHIPI Patent Council Coordinator (2010-2013); LES CHILE President (2011-2013); AIPPI Vice-President (2012-2014) and President (2014-2016); he is also ranked as Leading Lawyer by Chambers & Partners and frequently speaks at IP events.

He joined Claro & Cia. in 1982.

John Syekei is a partner in our Nairobi office and heads the Intellectual Property and Technology practice group in East Africa. John is a member of the Firm’s Management Board.

His practice areas and experience cover commercial intellectual property advice, Technology law, E-Commerce, Payments, Fintech, advertising law and litigation, data privacy, advice on drafting and/or negotiation of information technology agreements, and advice on the protection and enforcement of trade mark, patent, copyright and industrial designs. He also regularly advises on IP Litigation and dispute resolution covering trademarks, patents ,designs , breach of IT contracts, anti-counterfeiting raids, IP due diligence, licensing , franchise agreements and domain name dispute resolutions.

John is regionally and globally renowned for his excellence in the IP space, and has received several top citations and recognitions from international directories such as Chambers Global, World Trademark Reviews, IP Stars and WIPR Leaders. Most recently he was ranked as a WTR Global Leader by the World Trademark Review.

On the IT/TMT side, John advises a number of leading technology companies in the world including Uber, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and IBM. He also acts as the Kenyan counsel on regulation, compliance and corporate matters for Philip Morris International, Proctor & Gamble, IBM and Uber.

Over the years, John has established a formidable reputation within the E-Commerce and FinTech space. He regularly advises FinTech clients on matters relating to Corporate Governance; Information Technology; Financial Services Regulation; Mobile Money and Payments Law. He has written extensively on topical issues around this area, and a number of his articles have been published on international platforms such as Lexology. John is also well known for its ‘outstanding’ capabilities in Data Protection and Cyber Security.

John is a member of the advisory council of Innovation Law Club Africa (ILCA), an international forum for capacity building, knowledge exchange, and professional collaboration among technology law specialists. He is also a member of International Trademark Association East Africa (INTA), International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI), International Bar Association (IBA), International Trade Mark Association (TOPC committee member), World Trademark Review (WTR), American Chambers of Commerce (AMCHAM).

In May 2021, John successfully completed the Leadership Training Programme organised by the International Bar Association.

He is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya as well as a Patent Agent, Commissioner of Oaths and a Notary Public. He holds a LLB from Moi University.

Hitomi is a partner in the firm’s IP/IT practice and heads the trademark/design team. She covers all aspects of intellectual property (IP), information technology (IT), and data privacy and advises both Japanese and international clients on disputes and transactions in related areas.

Hitomi handles patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other IP-related matters in multiple business sectors, including IT, life sciences and healthcare, machinery, food, fashion, environment and energy, entertainment, financial services, and e-commerce. Ms. Iwase’s expertise encompasses all forms of IP transactional work, both cross-border and domestic, including licensing, strategic alliances, joint development, and asset transfers, as well as various types of IP disputes, including patent/trademark infringement litigation. Hitomi also assists clients in anti-counterfeiting and in the development of IP portfolios and prosecution strategies. Hitomi regularly advises clients on emerging legal issues relating to the latest technology, such as IoT and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as on complex system-related transactions and disputes over such transactions. In the area of data privacy, Hitomi provides extensive advice on data protection and privacy compliance, including on establishing global compliance systems and incidents such as data breaches. Hitomi also advises on related areas such as e-commerce, advertising, and consumer protection.