David Llewelyn

David Llewelyn

Managing Director

David Llewelyn has combined legal practice with academia for more than 35 years, qualifying as a solicitor in England & Wales in 1985, and Advocate & Solicitor in Singapore in 2017. From 1999 until 2010 when he moved to Singapore, he was a partner and head of the intellectual property/IT group in the London office of international law firm White & Case.

He is currently Professor of Law (Practice) at Singapore Management University, as well as Professor of Intellectual Property Law at King’s College London.

David is an international commercial arbitrator on the SIAC (main and IP), KCAB, AIAC and CAAI panel of arbitrators. He sits as an IP Adjudicator at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, hears disputes as a Singapore Domain Names Dispute Resolution Panelist, and is an international commercial arbitrator. He is an Honorary Senior Fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and a member of the Thought Leadership Sub-Committee of the ICC Singapore Arbitration Group.

David has written extensively on IP, IT and other aspects of commercial law, including co-authoring Cornish, Llewelyn & Aplin, Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyright, Trade Marks & Allied Rights (9th edition, 2018), Kerly’s Law of Trade Marks & Trade Names (Supplement published most recently in 2021) and Cases, Materials & Commentary on Intellectual Property Law (2018). He has also explained the commercial aspects of intellectual property law in Asia in his business book Invisible Gold in Asia: Creating Wealth through Intellectual Property (2010).

David has been appointed amicus curiae by the Singapore Court of Appeal in a number of cases involving intellectual property: Global Yellow Pages Ltd v Promedia Directories Pte Ltd [2017] SGCA 28 (copyright), Warner-Lambert Company LLC v Novartis (Singapore) Pte Ltd [2017] SGCA 45 (patents) and Burberry Limited and another v Megastar Shipping Pte Ltd [2019] SGCA 1 (trade marks).

PRACTICE AREAS
Commercial Law
Intellectual Property
Information Technology
Data Protection
Employment Law
Competition Law
International Arbitration
Litigation

ADMISSIONS
Solicitor, England & Wales (1985)
Advocate & Solicitor, Singapore (2017)

EDUCATION
LLB, Southampton
BCL, Oxford

Contact
E: david@dllewelyn.com.sg
T: +65 6513 2885
F: +65 6722 0650

Commercial Law
  • advising on and negotiating a joint venture between a UK university and a Chinese biotechnology company;
  • advising on and negotiating acquisition agreements between Japanese investors and Italian clothing company;
  • advising Canadian and Czech breweries on international branding and brewing arrangements;
  • advising a Californian corporation on a joint venture for the exploitation of plant varieties;
  • advising a major UK engineering company on the distribution of its products globally; and
  • advising on the distribution of sporting goods in various Asian markets.
Intellectual Property
  • advising a European multinational food company on alleged trade mark infringement and passing off by supermarket chains;
  • advising a major U.S. pharmaceutical company on alleged patent and trade mark infringement issues in relation to generic competitors;
  • advising a Californian owner of patents relating to dental products on its enforcement strategy;
  • advising a national intellectual property office on the compliance of the country’s laws with international intellectual property conventions;
  • advising a regional government on aspects of its copyright laws;
  • advising a French food multinational on its international trade mark strategy;
  • advising an internationally-renowned architect on the protection of his moral rights in various countries around the world;
  • advising an Australian drinks company on the protection of its trade marks;
  • advising an Indonesian tobacco company on IP issues;
  • advising a Swiss multinational company on tax aspects of the structuring of its intellectual property exploitation.
  • advising a Japanese electronics company on its distribution and branding strategy;
  • advising on the branding and sales strategy of a major SE Asian drinks company;
  • conducting due diligence and advising on the intellectual property aspects of an acquisition of a multinational mineral water company;
  • conducting due diligence and advising on the intellectual property aspects of a merger of two multinational pharmaceutical companies;
  • conducting due diligence and advising on the intellectual property aspects of the sale of a major Asian tobacco company; and
  • advising on the intellectual property aspects of the merger of two Indian media companies.
Technology
  • advising on the outsourcing of the global IT function of a Swiss-based multinational engineering company and of a U.S.-based multinational food company;
  • advising on co-marketing and co-promotion agreements for a multinational pharmaceutical company;
  • conducting due diligence and advising a world-leading defence and aerospace company on intellectual property issues involved in multinational collaboration projects;
  • advising various technology start-ups on legal issues including shareholder and investment agreements.
Data Protection and Competition Law
  • advising a major U.S. investment bank on data transfer issues involved in outsourcing arrangements to India;
  • advising European financial institutions on data protection and transfer issues; and
  • advising various corporations on competition law aspects of licensing arrangements and joint ventures.
Dispute Resolution
  • representing multinational defence company in London High Court dispute relating to the construction of a major instrumentation and training facility;
  • representing German, Swiss and French corporations in branding and copyright disputes in the London High Court;
  • representing a Californian farming corporation in AAA arbitration concerning purported joint venture with an Italian business;
  • advising in an ICC arbitration concerning an alleged breach of the payment provisions of a patent and know-how licence in the pharmaceutical area;
  • advising Australian winery on alleged infringement of trade marks and copyright in various jurisdictions;
  • representing a European multinational company in an ICC arbitration concerning an alleged breach of a licence with an Asian licensor;
  • appointed as member of an ICC Dispute Resolution Board to resolve disputes under a series of technology and licensing arrangements between a European and a Chinese multinational; and
  • appointed as an arbitrator in an SIAC arbitration involving technology licences.

CONTACT US:

6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#11-09 The Central
Singapore 059817
T: +65 6513 2885
F: +65 6722 0650
E: general@dllewelyn.com.sg