International

Product Inception

Shook lawyers partner with their clients from start to finish.  This long-view based on decades of experience advising multinationals adds valuable perspective at early stages of product development.  We help clients comply with regulations concerning product testing, warnings, labeling and packaging, and identify and mitigate future product liability and regulatory risks.  We also counsel companies on their global intellectual property portfolio to protect their innovation and defend their IP rights down the road. 

Representative Experience:

• Advised a Fortune 100 consumer products company on warnings and instructions for use as well as on product liability risks for new products developed and tested in European and Asian markets.

• Devised a litigation and regulatory risk mitigation plan for a Fortune 500 technology company regarding a new product launch in South Korea.

• Conducted due diligence reviews of international utility, invention model and design patent assets in multimillion-dollar acquisitions for an international software corporation.

• Actively managed intellectual property prosecutions in North and South America, Europe and Asia for multiple international corporations in mechanical and software fields.

Product Launch and Market Performance

After a product launches, companies get to work protecting the brand and growing the market. Shook lawyers have helped businesses deploy brand integrity strategies and even turn hostile infringement situations into mutually beneficial licensing and IP monetization opportunities.

Once launched, products sometimes create risk or cause injury despite best-laid plans. Without proper response protocols, however, this can quickly escalate, tarnishing the brand and creating a public relations and litigation nightmare for the company. Shook lawyers have extensive experience advising companies on recall strategies to avoid this scenario and have worked successfully with regulators and counsel all over the world.

Representative Experience:

• Partnered with a client to identify opportunities to monetize patents and ultimately negotiate a licensing agreement with the client’s competitor in Japan.

• Coordinated a recall in more than 60 countries for an arms manufacturer.

• Handled notifications and recalls in the United Kingdom for a German appliance manufacturer.

Product Defense

During the past 20 years, Shook lawyers have achieved an unparalleled record of successfully resolving disputes in more than 50 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Canada.  Our expert knowledge of the legal nuances unique to jurisdictions worldwide can give you a head start when new claims arise, allowing you to quickly gain control over proceedings.

Our expertise extends to alternative fora and the various institutional and ad hoc arbitration schemes frequently favored in cross-border disputes.  And by partnering with the in-house team and our network of prestigious law firms in more than 70 countries, we offer a “one-team” approach that maximizes both the quality and efficiency of legal service available to clients.

Essential to a successful litigation defense are strategies for managing documents and expert witnesses.  Shook lawyers have a wealth of experience in helping clients navigate complicated e-discovery, legal privilege, data privacy and protection, and document management matters. We play a leading role in the Sedona Conference Working Group 6 on Cross Border Discovery and routinely handle cross-border document preservation, collection and production matters for multinational companies.  We have also worked with a wide variety of medical and technical experts for reports and testimony before courts and administrative bodies.

Representative Experience:

• Defended a Fortune 100 consumer products company in its global product liability litigation across six continents and thousands of claims over decades.

• Represented a number of the largest multinational pharmaceutical and medical device companies in product liability matters throughout Europe, South America and Asia.

• Represented an American energy company in various arbitrations and pre-award attachments against a Venezuelan state-owned entity.

• Provided counseling to global consumer products company on the creation, implementation and operational execution of document management and records retention policies, including advice on best practices.

• Developed data processing and transfer protocols for a major multinational machinery manufacturer to allow the transmission of data from Canada to affiliates worldwide, including the United States.

• Conducted an international data privacy analysis for the compliance department of a global software company.

Product Policy and Control

When businesses invest in a market and the regulations, laws or rules of civil procedure subsequently change—sometimes on short notice—the shift can negatively affect their operations. In many countries, it is becoming easier to bring claims against manufacturers in relation to the use of their products. And for manufacturers of certain consumer products, regulators are seeking to restrict exposure to, and use of, their brands. Shook lawyers have helped businesses proactively engage in public debates to protect both a company’s brand investment and consumer base.

Representative Experience:

• Assisted a Fortune 100 consumer products company to develop and deploy a global strategy to preserve important rights for litigants in consumer protection and product liability claims.  This strategy helped secure critical safeguards in class action laws in Europe and in consumer protection codes throughout Latin America.

• Advised a FTSE 100 alcohol beverage company on labeling and ingredients issues across multiple countries, and helped devise their engagement strategy to address a stricter regulatory environment for their products.

• Advised GMO seed providers to develop an arbitration mechanism for countries’ claims of damage to biological diversity.