Asian Corporate IP Strategies and Management in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities for the Chief Legal Officer

Richard Thurston, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

A new IP era is dawning throughout Asia. Therefore, addressing and managing intellectual property (IP) matters with and in Asian companies will become a greater challenge for General Counsels in years to come. Ultimately, this metamorphosis will impact significantly the ways in which all corporations address intellectual property matters throughout the global marketplace. Asian corporate IP transformation is influenced by many factors, including: (i) the intersection of Asian cultural roots with the dynamics of modern Asian socio-technological development; (ii) a growing friction between Asian cultures and certain fundamental values underlying the Western approach to intellectual property; and (iii) the intensifying efforts of Asian companies to gain new competitive positions, first regionally and then worldwide. These core factors will drive a dynamic, new emphasis on regional innovation and inventiveness, defined by a greater focus on ethnocentrism, especially in key industrial sectors such as biomedical, green and microelectronics industries. The challenge for corporate General Counsel is how to successfully address these increasingly dynamic forces.

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Taiwan Intellectual Property Industry November 2010 Vol. 4, No. 13, Autumn 2010

Richard Thurston

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Dr. Richard L. Thurston is General Counsel and Corporate Compliance Officer of TSMC. He manages the legal affairs of a global corporation headquartered in Taiwan. The size of the TSMC legal department is approximately 70 persons (lawyers and other staff are located in the US, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and China). His responsibilities have included corporate governance, regulatory compliance; M&A; litigation; intellectual capital management (including intellectual property), and international trade and investment, (especially in and throughout the Asia-Pacific region). Dr. Thurston overseas the management of relationships with major international law firms including: Weil Gottshal; Baker & McKenzie; Duane Morris; White & Case; Jones Day, DeHeng, Haynes and Boone, and Keker and VanNest. Also, he has established strategic relationships with U.S. law schools such as SMU in Dallas, John Marshall in Chicago, as well as Soochow School of Law, ChiaoTung and Cheng Chih Universities in Taiwan.. Dr. Thurston earned his Ph.D. in modern East Asian History from the University of Virginia.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

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TSMC, under the leadership of Dr. Morris Chang, created the semiconductor dedicated foundry industry when it was founded in 1987. It continues as the semiconductor market leader by focusing on technology and manufacturing excellence, responsiveness to customers (including increased capital spending to fill customer needs) and by out performing the industry consistently. TSMC posted annual sales of US$9.83 billion in 2009 and currently employs over 30,000 people worldwide. To serve and support its customer's manufacturing needs, TSMC maintains account service offices in China, India, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Taiwan and the United States.

Taiwan Intellectual Property Industry November 2010 Vol. 4, No. 13, Autumn 2010