Asia Business Law Journal – March/April 2025

Legal intel on IP protection

Experts to descend on INTA annual meeting

It is that time of the year again when more than 10,000 delegates from across the world are expected to congregate in San Diego for the International Trademark Association’s (INTA) annual meeting in May, gaining first-hand insights from some of the brightest legal minds in the global intellectual property field. Asia Business Law Journal gives our readers a front-row seat to what they can anticipate from this year’s annual meeting through an in-depth interview with the 2025 INTA president and senior IP attorney, Elisabeth Stewart Bradley.

Our Cover story, titled New focus on global IP leadership, takes a deep dive into regulatory issues concerning IP in Asia that the incumbent president is focused on and seeks to address in her one-year tenure. It also explores how her diverse legal career background as a seasoned in-house IP lawyer impacts the way she has set out to lead the association in tackling those problems on behalf of its members, consisting of more than 6,700 organisations from 185 jurisdictions representing nearly 37,000 professionals, including brand owners and major corporations.

In this issue, we also dedicate a chapter to another senior in-house counsel who is a homegrown talent with an homegrown international brand in the Philippines. In a feature showcasing our Q&A with Valerie Feria Amante, the global chief legal officer of the Jollibee Group, we reveal how Amante leads her 33-strong multijurisdictional legal team in shielding the Filipino household fast-food name from external risks as it continues global expansion.

Like Jollibee, multinational corporations are constantly grappling with legal risks and regulatory compliance issues.

Our Intelligence report, titled The restructure, examines the Vietnamese government’s recent undertaking of sweeping administrative and judicial reforms aimed at reducing red tape and creating a more efficient and transparent regulatory environment for business.

We spoke to senior lawyers in Vietnam about why this overhaul, marked by large-scale consolidations, dissolutions and mergers of government bodies and the judiciary, is regarded as the most ambitious in decades. We also address potential problems facing businesses hoping to navigate departmental approvals and other necessities during this transitional phase.

We are also thrilled to present the Korea Inbound Investment Guide, featuring expert legal insights ranging from labour to data privacy and fintech, to help overseas in-house counsel and executives navigate their ventures in South Korea.

The Head to Head series in this issue examines trade secrets protection in Taiwan and the Philippines, analysing the prevention of confidential information from misappropriation under the criminal and civil laws in both jurisdictions.

Additionally, we also bring you the Regional guides, which cover key regulatory developments across multiple fields. This issue features in-depth legal insights into cryptocurrency regulation, short-selling and securities lending, as well as trademark law trends.

Our Expert briefing zeros in on healthcare and life science regulations in Japan, providing an overview of recent developments in privacy and personal information related to medical information, as well as laws and regulations applicable to new technologies, including artificial intelligence-related developments within the healthcare industry.

We are also proud to present the Vietnam Law Firm Awards 2025, our annual recognition of the country’s most outstanding legal talent. These awards, based on our rigorous assessments, celebrate excellence, innovation and leadership in Vietnam’s legal industry.

Likewise, we present our Malaysian Law Firm Awards 2025, which provides our best choices for the high-achieving law firms assisting business in Malaysia’s comeptitive legal landscape.

Finally, our annual Indonesia A-list, highlights the top 100 lawyers plus 35 Legal Icons in the country. The list is selected by our own independent research team and based on nominations and endorsements from domestic and international clients, as well as peers worldwide.