Aug 08 2008
morrison & foerster and the beijing olympics
Saw an interesting article in The Recorder, which is an affiliate of the National Law Journal and the American Lawyer. The article is entitled, “ MoFo Got Game(s)” and discusses the legal work that the firm did for the Olympics, which started today:
When the Olympics start tonight, Morrison & Foerster partner Kelly Crabb and some of his colleagues will be able to breathe a little easier.
Over the last six years, Crabb and Steven Toronto, the head of the firm’s Beijing office, have led about 40 lawyers from MoFo offices worldwide in representing the Beijing Organizing Committee for this year’s Games.
The firm, the BOC’s only international counsel, is handling a wide range of issues, including helping protect the intellectual property, a major source of funding for the organization.
Wow, only 40. I am surprised as I thought there would be even more work than that. Still, I am sure that MoFo has made out quite well from its exclusive deal with the BOC.
The firm began representing the committee in 2002 and Crabb, an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, estimates that he has spent at least 40 or 50 percent of his time in any of the intervening years on BOC matters. And while it has been good for his practice, it has also been good for his firm.
“It’s been a very helpful calling card for conversations with potential clients,” said firm chairman Keith Wetmore. MoFo will also use the event to entertain clients, he said, and has run its own series of internal Nintendo Wii competitions “to keep the games in the forefront of the minds of our personnel.”
It seems like this could be a boon to the firm. After all, MoFo, while it has had a China presence, has had a hard time trying to distinguish itself against other firms that are out there like Paul Hastings, which is one big fish in China. Even friends who were at MoFo have admitted that MoFo’s China practice, while growing, is not a top tier practice there… yet. Given that the Olympics has been such a big deal, this is great PR for the firm.
And while Olympic IP includes cute cartoon mascots, Crabb says the government took trademark matters very seriously. The city of Beijing and then the national government enacted laws protecting the Olympic symbols and followed up with strong enforcement, Crabb said.
“I listened to my client give a talk, and during his talk he said in 2007 there were 450 cases of enforcement,” Crabb said. “By April of this year, there were already 500 cases.”
Ah yes, it wouldn’t be the Olympics without the Fuwa, or in English, the “Friendlies”. (of which I note that only one of them is even recognizable as a Panda–Jingjing) China takes these little guys and gals very seriously. And while a little annoying at first, they can even grow on you over time. (scary)
I was actually shocked at the lack of piracy of Olympics goods while I was there since I wanted to find some cheap T-shirts for my friends’ children. Nada around where I was in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou. So I applaud MoFo and the Chinese government for their vigilance in protecting the IP regarding the Fuwa. I can only hope that the government will realize that this sort of vigilance toward other IP is just as useful as well.
I don’t know about you, but I will be enjoying the games myself. Hopefully they won’t interfere with posting too much…
I think it’s awesome that MoFo got this work. Steven Toronto is runs a great shop.
I have to wonder, though, given the challenges professional service firms of all stripes face when working with governmental agencies, quasi-governmental organizations (like BOCOG), and SOEs face actually getting paid for their work if MoFo is facing any challenges in that direction.
And you always have to worry when you work for a client whose very existence has an expiration date…
David,
I would agree with you that collecting fees from SOEs is no fun, though in this particular case I would think that BOCOG is big enough that China would never live down the humiliation that an int’l firm went public that the BOCOG didnt pay its bills.
I would also hope that MoFo could use BOCOG as a springboard for greater work, though it may also have that adverse effect of leaving the office with no other business when the client expires. If the marketing team is on top of things, then hopefully it will end up being a positive investment on MoFo’s part. Should be interesting to see how it actually turns out.
Tom