

Introduction and rankings tables
Discover which firms are highly ranked for Global Trade Secrets and learn more about how the rankings were put together.

WE HAVE REACHED AN INFLECTION POINT in trade secrets as a global phenomenon, say clients and IP lawyers alike around the world. The starting point was the near simultaneous enactment of the Federal Defense Against Trade Secrets Act in the US and the EU Trade Secrets Directive, both in 2016. The legislative changes were the result of lobbying by global business for a consistent set of international judicial standards for assessing trade secrets.
The lobby in turn was a response to the much heralded arrival of the patent cliff, the drop off in patent filings and the recognition of the limits of traditional patent protection for a more diffuse technological world and fluid modern, employment practices.
Fast forward to the end of 2022 and the post-COVID era, and there are record numbers of federal trade secrets cases, damage levels set at $2 billion and rising, and the emergence of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) with the sanction of barring the lucrative US market to any infringer proven to have transgressed trade secrets anywhere in the world.
In Europe, while the EU and the UK may not yet be as prolific in their case history, new case matters regularly arise both locally and as part of multi-jurisdictional proceedings. Changes to Chinese anti-competition rules and record damages awards in the Shanghai IP Court and other fora herald an increasingly protective approach to Chinese innovation as part of the 2025 Made in China strategy.
Western observers may find this approach confusing given the regular charges and convictions of Chinese nationals in the US and Europe, and for the first time in a Canadian court. Overall the reality of trade secrets as centre stage in geopolitics was illustrated by the tiff between China’s Xi Jiang and Canada’s Pierre Trudeau at a G20 summit.
It is against this backdrop that WIPR Insights presents an industry ranking of the leading global trade secrets law firms. The US may be the biggest “market” in trade secrets by number and value of cases and by the number of active lawyers in the field. But there is an increasing awareness by global counsel of the importance of trade secrets as an option for protecting their intangible assets as patents continue to tail off. And of the increasing risk of record fines and cross-jurisdictional litigation for those accused of trade secrets infringement.
The geopolitically sensitive US$1.8 billion settlement in the LG Chem car battery case involving rival South Korean manufacturers, with intervention from Joe Biden and support from the Korean government, shows how trade secrets is a global and not just US concern.
Equally, the alleged theft of Taiwanese semiconductor technology by China shows the sensitive overlap between US v China economic as well as political rivalry.
The global rankings profile the small number of law firms recognised as capable of assisting global clients on these most important strategically significant matters. All ranked firms are capable of playing on this rarefied field, with the top ranked firms being the most accomplished.
WIPR Insights will follow up with country rankings as clients and law firms around the world say they are keen to know which local as well as global law firms can be trusted in this critical area.