Douglas Clark

Biography

Doug has over 30 years’ experience handling litigation and arbitration matters in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Doug worked in Hong Kong from 1993 to 2000. He moved to Shanghai in 2000 where he was based 11 years. He established and was managing partner of the Shanghai office of a large international firm until 2010.  In 2011, he returned to Hong Kong to practice as a barrister and arbitrator.  He was re-admitted as a solicitor in 2021. He regularly appears in the higher Hong Kong courts as a solicitor advocate and also acts as counsel in arbitrations.  He sits as an arbitrator and is a Deputy Chairman of the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Board of Review.  He has  been a member of the HKAIC Appointments Committee since 2023.

Doug’s principal practice area is intellectual property (IP).  He also handles cryptocurrency, breach of trust and general commercial claims. 

In the IP field, his expertise includes handling complex multi-jurisdictional patent litigation, often related to standard essential patents, and acting as arbitrator or counsel in numerous patent and high technology arbitrations. As an advocate, he established new law in Hong Kong in relation to anti-circumvention technologies and handled numerous high-value trademark and passing off cases. He has also obtained interim injunctions in relation to infringement of all types of IP rights, including multiple Anton Piller orders and Mareva injunctions. Early in his career, he participated in raids on hundreds of factories and warehouses in Mainland China.

Doug’s non-contentious IP experience includes negotiation and advising on technology transfer contracts, conducting patent and other intellectual property audits, and freedom to operate analyses. He has also provided expert evidence on Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong law in overseas court proceedings and international arbitrations.

As an author, Doug is the author of four legal texts: Patent Litigation in China, Intellectual Property in China, Hong Kong Intellectual Property, and Civil Litigation in Hong Kong, and numerous articles on intellectual property. He has also written a three-volume history of extraterritoriality in China and Japan, titled Gunboat Justice.

Doug studied on exchange at high school in Kobe, Japan, and on an Australian/Chinese government scholarship at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He is fluent in both Japanese and Chinese. Doug studied Chinese and Chinese law at Fudan University in Shanghai from 1988 to 1990.  He graduated with degrees Law and Asian Studies from the Australian National University in 1992.  He obtained the Hong Kong Post Graduate Certificate in Laws in 1994.

Biography

• Cullinan Anstalt v Sotheby’s Hong Kong Ltd & Ors – Trademark infringement claim in relation to the sale of a blue diamond for the second highest price ever (US$57M) (2022-present)
• Wong To Yick v Singapore Medicine, solicitor advocate on appeal; counsel for Defendant in trial in Hong Kong for trade mark infringement and passing off; (2019-present)
• Acting for US toy manufacturer in relation to patent infringement in PRC (2021-2022)
• Sole Arbitrator in Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) claim relating to license agreement for confidential information and patents in multiple jurisdictions.(2019-2022)
• Arbitrator in software pre-loading and distribution agreement, HKIAC (2021)
• Two Way Media v PCCW, acting as counsel and solicitor advocate, on patent infringement proceedings relating to multi-casting (2019-2021)
• Counsel in HKIAC arbitration relation to license agreement relating to alleged misuse of trade secrets and patents in multiple jurisdictions (2019 to 2021)
• Sole Arbitrator in Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) claim relating to license agreement for confidential information and patents in multiple jurisdictions.(2019-2022)
• Counsel in dispute relating to PRC patent ownership subject to HKIAC arbitration clause (2018-2019)
• ZTE v Vringo, Shenzhen Intermediate Court. Acted for defendant for alleged breach of PRC Anti- Monopoly Law in FRAND Licensing (2013-2016)
• Tsit Wing Group v TWG Tea – Acted as counsel for Defendant to in appeal to Court of Final Appeal (led by Martin Howe QC) on trade mark infringement and passing off (2016)

Biography

• Litigation Star in Intellectual property for Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2025
• Chambers and Partners Greater China Region 2025 Band 1 for Intellectual Property (International Firms)
• Gold Practitioner of IAM Patent 1000
• Who’s Who Legal Thought Leader, Patents, Life Sciences, Trademarks, Arbitration
• Legal 500 Asia Pacific 500 leading individual (2010)

Biography

• Legal Plus 11th International Arbitration & Corporate Crime Summit in Seoul on “Technology Disputes 2025: Digital Assets & Tracing, Rise of AI, & Investigations/Fraud Issues“
• Legal Plus 8th International Arbitration, Corporate Fraud & Anti-Trust Summit in Shanghai
• Legal Plus: 11th International Arbitration and Corporate Crime Forum in Tokyo on “IP Disputes – 2025 and Beyond”
• International Arbitration and Mediation for Intellectual Property Disputes
• Hong Kong, HKIARB, HK IPD, March 2023

Biography

• International Arbitration and Mediation for Intellectual Property Disputes
• Hong Kong, HKIARB, HK IPD, March 2023
• Intellectual property in Hong Kong, (2nd ed), LexisNexis, 2022
• Intellectual property law in China, (2nd ed), Wolters Kluwer, 2021
• Civil litigation in Hong Kong (6th ed), 2022
• Gunboat justice: British and American law courts in China and Japan (1842-1943) (2015)
• Shanghai lawyer: the memoirs of America’s China spymaster (2017)

Biography

• The Law Society of Hong Kong
• IAM 1000

Biography