Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

Formosa Transnational’s M&A practice has “built a strong reputation in advising on cross border M&A transactions”, says a client. The team has an “array of outstanding practitioners, notably Delphine Chen”, adds a rival partner.

Formosa Transnational possesses knowledge and experience on cross border mergers and acquisitions, and provides effective services to domestic and foreign clients in this area.

The firm advised a leading US high-tech company on its US$26 million acquisition of a company.

Formosa Transnational is highly respected in the field of litigation. The firm’s quality and cautious handling in dispute resolution has peers commenting: “They have some of the top litigators working at Formosa Transnational.”

Practice leader Wellington L Koo, and partners Yulan Kuo and Hsiaoling Fan, led the team to another busy year. The firm represented a renowned construction company in a dispute arising from the joint construction of real estate for urban regeneration.

Another transaction saw the team advising a national provider of aircraft maintenance on regulations concerning conflicts of interest by public servants. The firm also advised a multinational Integrated Circuit (IC) design company based in Taiwan on interpretation of patent infringement.

Formosa Transnational’s IP practice consists of an elite team of highly qualified and experienced attorneys and patent engineers. Partner Hsiaoling Fan serves as chairperson of the IP Rights Committee of the Taiwan Bar Association as well as chairperson of the Association’s China Affairs Committee. He is “one of the Deans in Taiwanese IP rights”, says a competitor.

The addition of partner Weh-Yueh Chung in February 2008 has seen the firm rapidly extend its work for Japanese clients.

The firm successfully defended a leading generic drug company on a patent infringement litigation case. This complex case dealt with patents for the formulation of drugs, validity issues of ever-green patents, and methods to verify infringement.

Another transaction saw the firm represent a LED manufacturer in a case filled with complicated issues in determining validity and infringement of design patents for tiny-size products.

Formosa Transnational

Formosa Transnational’s technology law department consists of an elite team of highly experienced attorneys that have worked on some of the most important domestic telecommunication transactions. The firm advised a leading semiconductor company in patent litigation involving specialised technology issues. Another transaction involved advising a telecom operator on the Compliance and Personal Data Protection Law.

Formosan Brothers

Formosan Brothers’ practice in IT, Telco & Media has been kept busy this past year. A notable transaction was defending a client that is active in the TV and online shopping services and e-commerce sector in Taiwan on various actions concerning patents, copyright and trade marks.

Formosa Transnational

Formosa Transnational is very experienced in handling labour law issues, including issues surrounding severance pay and mass employee redundancy. A core segment of the team’s labour and employment practice is providing contract advice and dispute resolution services to Japanese clients. Deal highlights include advising a Japanese airline on regulations connected to the Labour Standards Act.

Lee Tsai & Partners

Lee Tsai & Partners provides the full range of labour and employment law services and is expert in drafting employee handbooks, corporate terminations and redundancies. The firm is also an industry leader in providing legal services to the technology industry. A notable highlight last year was representing Testrite Group in employment matters arising from the integration of its four subsidiaries, including HOLA Taiwan.

Lin & Partners

Although more renowned for its banking, finance and corporate work, Lin & Partners’ practice also has the ability to provide professional and efficient employment litigation advice. The firm was commissioned by the Financial Supervisory Commission, the highest banking regulator in Taiwan, to study the response to and protocols surrounding labour strikes by employees of banks in the US, Japan and South Korea.

Winkler Partners

Winkler Partners’ highly recommended labour practice has a team of very experienced practitioners handling a large number of employment-related cases. The firm represented a major global medical device company in a civil suit filed by a former employee in Taiwan. This cross border dispute required coordinating with counsel in other jurisdictions. Other work included advising international entertainment and integrated circuit multinationals on employee handbooks for their Taiwan operations.

Formosa Transnational

Formosa Transnational is experienced in providing expertise on all stages of administrative relief proceedings related to taxation matters. In a high profile case, the firm provided legal opinions to a global software company on obligations to maintain secrecy by customs officials. Another transaction saw the firm advising a US wireless telecoms company on tax issues in relation to a Taiwanese subsidiary.

Formosan Brothers

Formosan Brothers’ strong team for tax remedy and planning includes Certified Public Accountant members and experienced tax officers. Recently, the team has focused on corporate tax planning and provide advice relating to exit strategies. Last year saw the firm advising a Taiwanese electric wire and cable company in dealing with process layered land value increment tax.