|
Most Mentions |
|
Foley & Lardner |
7 |
|
Morgan & Finnegan |
6 |
|
Finnegan, Henderson |
4 |
|
Howrey Simon |
4 |
|
Brinks Hofer |
3 |
|
Fulbright & Jaworski |
3 |
|
Kirkland & Ellis |
3 |
|
McDermott, Will |
3 |
|
Baker Botts |
2 |
|
Brooks Kushman |
2 |
|
Burns, Doane |
2 |
|
Dickstein Shapiro |
2 |
|
Donovan & Yee |
2 |
|
Dorsey & Whitney |
2 |
|
Fish & Neave |
2 |
|
Fish & Richardson |
2 |
|
Hale and Dorr |
2 |
|
Howard, Philips |
2 |
|
Hunton & Williams |
2 |
|
Kenyon & Kenyon |
2 |
|
Leopold, Petrich |
2 |
|
Linklaters |
2 |
|
Morrison & Foerster |
2 |
|
Oblon, Spivak |
2 |
|
O’Melveny & Myers |
2 |
|
Proskauer Rose |
2 |
|
Sidley Austin |
2 |
|
Skadden |
2 |
|
Stroock & Stroock |
2 |
|
Global Guardians
Which firms represent the world's
largest companies? Hint: Size doesn't
always matter.
By Joan Oleck
IP Law & Business/November 2003
Large companies don't always need
equally large law firms to represent
them. We asked the senior IP officers at
the world's largest 100 corporations, as
defined by Fortune magazine, which law
firms they use for IP work. Although
900-lawyer Foley & Lardner came away the
winner, it just barely beat out
90-lawyer Morgan & Finnegan for the top
spot. Three of the top five spots are
held by IP specialty firms.
"Reports to the contrary, we're still
alive in New York," says Morgan &
Finnegan partner James Gould. "I'm sure
the general firms like to say that we're
dying, we're disappearing. . . . But,
you know, I love to go to court against
a general firm, beat 'em up, and win."
Still for every Morgan & Finnegan, there
is a Lyon & Lyon (RIP), or Flehr Hohbach
Test Albritton & Herbert–IP firms that
either went out of business or were
acquired. Rick Florsheim, who heads
Foley & Lardner's IP department,
attributes part of Foley's success at
snatching up IP work to the demise of
the IP boutique.
Morgan & Finnegan was named as primary
IP counsel by six of the Global 100
companies: AT&T, Citigroup, Exxon Mobil,
Fujitsu, Procter & Gamble, and Sumitomo.
How does a tiny firm cultivate these
global behemoths? Gould has three
answers: Networking, networking,
networking. The firm also keeps an eye
out for its clients' bottom line. Morgan
& Finnegan is careful not to surprise
budget-conscious in-house lawyers. "We
like to engage the client in
strategizing the case . . . on how and
why this fits into their business
strategy. We like to be partners," Gould
says. And the firm isn't too proud, he
notes, to take on a small matter as a
kind of tryout to win a company's
confidence. Thinking small breeds big
business.
|
Company |
Primary IP Counsel |
|
American International Group |
Leydig, Voit; Proskauer Rose |
|
AT&T |
Akin Gump; Cooley Godward;
Morgan & Finnegan; Sidley Austin |
|
Aviva |
Wildbore & Gibbons |
|
Berkshire Hathaway |
Brinks Hofer; Dorsey & Whitney;
Needle & Rosenberg |
|
BMW |
Crowell & Moring; Howrey Simon |
|
Cardinal Health |
Baker & Hostetler; Blakely
Sokoloff; Brinks Hofer;
Gallagher & Dawsey; Jenkens &
Gilchrist; Standley & Gilcrest;
Woodcock Washburn |
|
Chevron Texaco |
Burns, Doane |
|
Citigroup |
Fross Zelnick; Kilpatrick
Stockton; Kramer Levin; Morgan &
Finnegan; Skadden |
|
ConocoPhillips |
Belasco, Jacobs; Conley, Rose;
Hovey Williams; Ladas & Parry;
Kirkland & Ellis; Madan,
Mossman; Stroock & Stroock;
Sidley Austin |
|
Credit Suisse |
Baker Botts; Brown Raysman; Hale
and Dorr; Schulte Roth |
|
Deutsche Post |
Grant Spencer; Jostarndt;
Linklaters; Norton Rose; Taylor
Wessing |
|
Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance |
O’Melveny & Meyers; Coudert
Brothers; HedgeJapan; Fragomen,
DelRey |
|
Deutsche Telekom |
Lovells; Bird & Bird; Mayer,
Brown |
|
Exxon Mobil |
Covington & Burling; Fulbright &
Jaworski; Holland & Knight;
Hunton & Williams; Morgan &
Finnegan; Weil, Gotshal |
|
Fannie Mae |
Collier Shannon; Dechert;
Dickstein Shapiro; Fenwick &
West; Foley & Lardner; O'Melveny
& Myers |
|
Fiat |
Barzano & Zanardo; Guzzi &
Ravizza; Jacobacci & Partners;
Notarbartolo & Gervasi; Studio
Torta |
|
Ford Motor |
Artz & Artz; Brooks Kushman;
Dykema Gossett; Fish & Neave |
|
Fortis |
Fish & Richardson |
|
Fujitsu |
Arent Fox; Armstrong, Westerman;
Greer Burns; KMZ Rosenman;
Morgan & Finnegan; Morrison &
Foerster; Staas & Halsey |
|
General Electric |
Armstrong Teasdale; Cantor
Colburn; Fay, Sharpe; Foley &
Lardner; Hunton & Williams;
Nixon & Vanderhye |
|
General Motors |
Abelman Frayne; Brooks Kushman;
Harness, Dickey; Howard,
Phillips; Kirkland & Ellis;
Quinn Law Group |
|
Hewlett-Packard |
Finnegan, Henderson; Foley &
Lardner; Fulbright & Jaworski;
Gray Cary; Irell & Manella; Lee
& Hayes; Thomas, Kayden; Wagner
Murabito |
|
Hitachi |
Antonelli, Terry; McDermott,
Will; Townsend and Townsend;
Squire, Sanders |
|
Home Depot |
Fulbright & Jaworski; Donovan &
Yee; Bereskin & Parr; Linklaters;
Mijares |
|
Hyundai Motor |
Lackenbach Siegel |
|
J.P. Morgan Chase |
Chadbourne & Parke; Collard &
Roe; Dickstein Shapiro; Goodwin
Procter; Lowenstein Sandler;
Skadden |
|
Kroger |
Pillsbury Winthrop; Thompson
Hine; Wood, Herron |
|
Marubeni |
Stroock & Stroock |
|
Mitsui |
Kenyon & Kenyon; Stoll, Miskin |
|
Munich Re Group |
Lorenz Seidler; Wuesthoff &
Wuesthoff |
|
NEC |
Foley & Lardner; Sughrue Mion |
|
Nissan Motor |
Foley & Lardner; Latham &
Watkins; McDermott, Will
|
|
Nissho Iwai |
Ostrolenk, Faber |
|
Procter & Gamble |
Calfee, Halter; Dinsmore & Shohl;
Dorsey & Whitney; Hale and Dorr;
Howrey Simon; Jones, Day; Morgan
& Finnegan |
|
Royal Ahold |
McNees Wallace; Meisser &
Partners |
|
Royal Dutch/Shell Group |
Howrey Simon; Locke Liddell;
Quinn Emanuel; Slusser Wilson;
Vinson & Elkins |
|
Sears Roebuck |
Holland & Hart; Michael Best |
|
Siemens |
Brinks Hofer; Carlson, Gaskey;
Chau, Frank; Clifford Chance;
Fish & Richardson; Foley &
Lardner; Kirkland & Ellis;
Morgan, Lewis |
|
State Farm Insurance Cos. |
Baker Botts; Bryan Cave; Osler,
Hoskin |
|
Sumitomo |
Morgan & Finnegan; Morrison &
Foerster |
|
Target |
Faegre & Benson; Fish & Neave;
Morrison & Foerster |
|
Tesco |
Bennett Jones; Gardere Wynne |
|
Toshiba |
Foley & Lardner; Finnegan,
Henderson; Oblon, Spivak |
|
Toyota Motor |
Burns, Doane; Finnegan,
Henderson; Kenyon & Kenyon;
Leopold, Petrich; McDermott,
Will; Oblon, Spivak; Oliff &
Berridge; Shaw Pittman |
|
Verizon Communications |
Finnegan, Henderson; Howrey
Simon |
|
Vivendi Universal |
Arnold & Porter; Donovan & Yee;
Leopold, Petrich; Mitchell,
Silberberg; Proskauer Rose;
Seyfarth Shaw |
|
Volkswagen |
Dann Pecar; Howard, Phillips;
Kerr, Russell; Kramon & Graham;
Stevens Davis |
|
Wal-Mart Stores |
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart; Priest &
Goldstein; Venable |
|
METHODOLOGY: For our
third survey of the world’s
largest companies, as defined by
Fortune magazine, we decided to
keep things simple. In our 2001
survey we asked them which law
firms they used for patent
prosecution and litigation. In
last year’s survey we wanted to
know the firms they used for
trademark litigation and
prosecution. This year we
broadened our scope from 50
companies to 100 and refined our
survey methods. We asked the IP
chiefs at the Global 100 which
firms they used for IP work. We
did not differentiate between
trademark, copyright, or patent
work, nor did we separate
prosecution from litigation. In
past years if the corporation
declined to respond, we’d fill
in the blanks with data from
court records and patent
filings. This year we were more
interested in the firms the
companies considered their go-to
firms. We have less
information–only 48 companies
provided us with firm names–but
it’s straight from the client’s
mouth. |
|
