Gabriela Kennedy

Intellectual Property

• Acted for a well-known international food and beverage company on all intellectual property aspects of the dissolving of its joint venture in Indonesia.
• Acted for a well-known celebrity hair stylist in Asia on all aspects of his joint venture arrangement for the development of his brand and related hair care products.
• Advised a listed property developer on a dispute with one of its licensors in relation to the operation of award winning of restaurants in Hong Kong.
• Acted for a Hong Kong-based retail company on a parallel import claim in relation to a global cookies brand.
• Acted for a well-known non-profit organisation in HKIAC proceedings involving the breach of a licensing agreement.
• Advised a major Hong Kong media and telecoms company on all aspects relating to their global branding strategies, portfolio management and IP enforcement actions.
• Advising a major cosmetics brand on trademark matters and assisting with enforcement actions in particular in relation to tackling on-line infringement.
• Advised a major sports clothing and footwear company on brand enforcement in Asia, handling a number of trademark infringement High Court Actions proceedings in Hong Kong and assisting with licensing disputes.
• Advised a US coffee company on franchise agreements, licensing agreements and trademark issues. Handling domain name matter for them in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.
• Acted for a global multinational supply chain manager in drafting and negotiating several agreements with a European clothing brand for the manufacture and distribution of clothes throughout Asia.
• Advised an established American whiskey brand on trade mark enforcement actions, oppositions and cancellations in Greater China.
• Co-ordinated customs actions for a number of clients including a sports apparel company, a leading toy manufacturer, a global lifestyle brand, an established American whiskey brand and a safety consulting and certification company.
• Handled over two dozen Anton Piller cases (search and seizure orders) for a German multinational sports apparel company and developed enforcement and branding strategies for a number of clients in a wide range of industries such as toys, sports goods, alcoholic beverages, gaming, electronic goods, video-games, across Asia.
• Lobbied on behalf of a music collecting society at the time that the Copyright Ordinance was passed before the handover and represented them in Legco.
• Lobbied for all subsequent amendments to the Copyright Ordinance on behalf of a number of clients and technology and media industry associations.
• Led on a number of cases involving online infringements and negotiated MOUs with online platforms.
• Successfully advised, in the High Court of Hong Kong, in a landmark damages copyright case for a Hong Kong agency that protects the music copyright of its members.
• Advised a number of music publishers on complex music copyright issues.
• Handled a number of High Court cases involving mod-chips and circumvention of technical protection measures (represented a market-leading software, services and solutions provider and several video gaming companies in a landmark case).
• Devised the solution to the company hijacking problem in Hong Kong (invoking UK Court of Appeal case Halifax). These cases led to the formation of the IP Practitioners Liaison Committee with Registrar of Companies (Gabriela was one of the first IP practitioners invited to join this committee) and the eventual changes to the Companies Ordinance which made the enforcement of court orders for the change of name of a company much easier.
• Advised a leading US brewing company on brand protection strategies and enforcement actions against brand cloning companies in Hong Kong and China.

Media

• Advised a major television broadcaster and its group company on public complaints in relation to the breach of the television programme code. The complaint concerned an infotainment programme which discussed the free-to-air TV licence controversy in Hong Kong.
• Advised a free-to-air broadcaster in judicial review proceedings stemming from a decision and sanctions issued by the broadcasting regulator in relation to advertising standards.
• Advised a media industry association in Hong Kong in relation to set up a new administrative process to achieve site blocking.
• Advising an American multinational media corporation on the courses of action for linking websites and streaming content, and dealing with set-top boxes under the existing Copyright Ordinance versus proposed amendments to the Copyright Ordinance.
• Providing advice to a music publisher on the impact of licensing schemes following the disbandment of collecting bodies for karaoke music licensing.
• Providing advice to a music collection society in relation to disputes over licensing fees and copyright infringement.
• Advising a provider of music streaming services in Asia in a dispute over provision of copyright works by way of apps in Hong Kong.
• Handled signal piracy cases for the exclusive licencee for FIFA World Cup broadcasts for the past three Football World Cups.
• Advised a major music publisher on the acquisition of the recorded music catalogue and artist roster of one of the largest independent music companies in Greater China.
• Handled broadcasting litigation (disputes with TELA regarding the calculation of licence fees for pay TV operators; disputes relating to credit ratings results; defamation cases; and a landmark case which tested in court for the first time the anti-competition provisions in the Broadcasting Ordinance).
• Handled anti-competition complaints filed with the then Broadcasting Authority and appeals from such decisions to the Chief Executive-in-Council.
• Advised leading TV channels on strategies for dealing with unauthorised streaming of content and dealing with illegal set top boxes.
• On the transactional side, Gabriela has been involved in a few major media deals and has advised on channel agreements, distribution agreements and many licensing deals for a few foreign channels in Asia and for local TV stations.

Information Technology

• Acted for a multinational luxury goods conglomerate in relation to the review of an e-wallet payment services agreement.
• Advised a retail company on the application of the Hong Kong money service operator licensing regime in relation to the collection of money through the use of a QR code on a mobile app.
• Advised an airport operator on a contract relating to a tender for the acquisition of a video analytics system that utilizes artificial intelligence.
• Advised an airport operator on the adoption of an e-tendering system and on private/public certificates; migration to an electronic system, review of terms and conditions and all related IT advice during the development of the project. Prepared their standard form IT contracts and ran training sessions for over 100 of their IT workforce.
• Advised an international resource-based group on the establishment of a sustainability consortium platform with other industry players, and the use of a blockchain solution to trace the production and sourcing of materials.
• Advised a China-based listed e-commerce giant on several matters concerning the telecommunication licensing, data privacy and unsolicited electronic messaging requirements in relation to the client’s international SMS messaging service, SIP voice line services, cloud services and other value added services. They concerned the cross-border nature of telecommunications services, and the related licensing and data privacy issues.
• Acted for a property management and development company in the drafting of a template IT procurement agreement to cover the general licensing and/or acquisition of software and hardware solutions.
• Advised a Hong Kong-based insurtech startup on insurance regulatory issues arising from distribution of insurance products through mobile phone applications.
• Advised a multinational banking and financial services organisation in relation to the HK$44 million launch of their new mobile e-wallet payment platform including handling the outsourcing and regulatory authorisations, drafting and negotiating the outsourcing agreement between the client and its service provider for the operation and maintenance of the e-wallet, the end user terms and conditions and personal data collection statement and privacy policy.
• Advised a leading media and information company in the outsourcing of facilities management services, and assisted in amending the local agreements and data protection agreements to ensure compliance with local data privacy laws for Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
• Advised on the outsourcing of IT services for end-user and network support throughout Asia as well as on an outsourcing agreement between the client and a telecom services provider for the provision of data connection services in Greater China.
• Represented a major investment bank in the outsourcing of facilities management services, and assisted in amending the local agreements and data protection agreements to ensure compliance with local data privacy laws for Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.
• Acting for a leading Asian airline in relation to two data centre services agreements for the provision of a data centre solution for the airline’s critical, core system, including drafting and negotiating the agreement.
• Advised a major Hong Kong property developer in relation to the adoption of back office Software as a Service solution for the management of lease agreements and advising on data privacy issues relating to the transaction.
• Advising a French luxury brand on IT and Data Centre Agreements for a data centre in Hong Kong.
• Advised a global multinational supply chain manager on all IP and IT aspects relating to the acquisition of an e-commerce platform.
• Advised a leading insurance company on a transitional services agreement and software licence agreement, as part of a large share purchase acquisition.
• Acted for leading gaming company on the drafting and negotiation of a consultancy services agreement with a global IT company for the development of a data management system.
• Advised a leading media and information company on the outsourcing of IT services for end-user and network support throughout Asia.
• Advised on an outsourcing agreement between a leading media and information company and a telecom services provider for the provision of data connection services in Greater China.
• Led on a number of high profile IT deals including an international banking group's online, end-to-end trade platform – B2BeX (a UK£54 million project which ran for three years), Pan-Asian outsourcing deals (for Goldman Sachs, Noble Group, and Prudential to name a few).
• Advised on cybersecurity issues, payment platforms, encryption issues (including securing membership to Identrus for a number of banks).
• Advised on cloud contracting – white paper for software house on adoption of cloud services by customers; drafted and negotiated SaaS and PaaS licences and advised on related data protection issues.

Data Protection

• Advised a leading Asian retail group on the application of the China Cybersecurity Law and the EU GDPR in relation to the use of outsourced third party service providers to provide payroll and attendance record services.
• Advised a German multinational materials manufacturer on Hong Kong data privacy laws and the China Cybersecurity Law with respect to their employee share programme.
• Advised an international luxury hotel group on the collection and use of personal data in light of the China Cybersecurity Law.
• Provided advice to a financial, software, data, and media company on a data privacy breach involving a service provider.
• Advised an international financial institution on the laws and regulations governing client data and personal data across 14 Asia Pacific jurisdictions, covering personal data privacy laws, outsourcing regulations and banking regulations.
• Acted for a hospitality client in a data breach caused by human error leading to the loss of hundreds of personal records. Co-ordinated investigation of the incident and review of internal procedures; suggested and articulated new procedures; handled advocacy before privacy regulator; co-ordinated notification to affected parties.
• Acted for a hospitality client in a data breach caused by an cyber attack on a third party provider offering booking services. Co-ordinanted investigation of the incident, review of internal procedures and suggested mitigating steps; providing response to privacy regulator.
• Advised a sovereign wealth fund established by the Singapore government on cross-border data transfer requirements with respect to their cloud service.
• Advised statutory bodies in multiple jurisdictions in Asia on data sovereignty issues concerning data collected and controlled by them out of their home jurisdiction.
• Advised an international operator of luxury residences on Hong Kong data privacy issues in relation to the collection, use and transfer of personal data inside and outside Hong Kong, and reviewed and amended the company’s template clauses for inclusion in third party service provider agreements regarding the retention and use of personal data; the data privacy policy and cookies policy.
• Advised a leading insurance company on the transfer, processing, retention, storage and use of personal data by an IT service provider company outside of Hong Kong.
• Conducted an Asia Pacific data privacy audit for global alternative asset manager to ensure that its policies and procedures are in compliance with data privacy laws on the collection, use, disclosure, transfer and processing of personal data of job applicants and employees.
• Conducted a data privacy audit for a luxury leather goods company covering Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.
• Advised a leading business and data analytics company on the risks posed under Hong Kong law in relation to the collection of personal data from public records which are then used in business reports and marketing activities.
• Advised a leading oil and gas company on amending and reviewing their application form, personal information collection statement and terms and conditions in relation to its discount card membership program.
• Advised a leading luxury Italian fashion brand on their handling of customers’ personal data for direct marketing purposes in Hong Kong.
• Assisted an internationally renowned Italian luxury brand with its compliance with data access requests under the Hong Kong data privacy laws.
• Advised a leading Italian luxury fashion and cosmetics brand on their handling of customers’ personal data for direct marketing purposes in Hong Kong.
• Advised a leading Italian luxury footwear and handbag brand on the cross border transfer of personal data in compliance with data privacy laws across 7 jurisdictions.
• Advised a leading financial institution on the outsourcing of facilities management services, and assisted in amending the local agreements and data protection agreements to ensure compliance with local data privacy laws for Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
• Advised a leading media and information company on the outsourcing of facilities management services, and assisted in amending the local agreements and data protection agreements to ensure compliance with local data privacy laws across 13 jurisdictions.
• Led data audits for clients, review of policies and writing of data protection manuals.
• Handled a number of complaints to the Privacy Commissioner including a much publicised data breach against a leading video-game company (and successfully argued that no investigation should be initiated against the client).
• Handled and led many Pan-Asian data protection projects (mostly for banks, relating to data processing, cross-border transfer issues and disclosure of information to overseas authorities).

Domain Names

• Advised a major sports clothing and footwear company on domain name strategies for .vn and dealing with online infringement.
• Advised the Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Company Limited on issues relating to phasing out old contracts with customers.
• Advised a leading Chinese e-commerce platform on their domain name strategy and recovered over 400 domain names for them through litigation in many jurisdictions (China, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan), and through domain name dispute resolution procedures (UDRP, various local DRP and URS procedures in many jurisdictions including China, Hong Kong, India, Spain, Australia, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, England and US).
• Panellist with WIPO and HKIAC and adjudicated on more than 200 cases (some of which have been cited and discussed in the international press). Drafted and filed more than 400 domain name complaints on behalf of clients (UDRP, DRP and URS); one of 100 panellists with WIPO for Legal Rights Objections (LRO) in relation to new gTLD domains.
• Drafted the current domain name agreements, policy and rules for the Hong Kong domain name registry.
• Drafted and advised on the dispute resolution policy of HKIAC and led on a similar project for the Singapore registry.
• Drafted the agreements and policy for a new Chinese language gTLD.

Telecoms

• Advised a Chinese state-owned company on their investment in a telecommunications infrastructure and civil engineering business to fund the construction and deployment of a new telecommunication infrastructure to 600 villages in Hong Kong, in order to be able to provide the residents in the villages with broadband services. Provided advice on the type of telecommunication permits and licences (including the unified carrier license) that need to be obtained in order to operate in the business of construction of telecommunications infrastructure in Hong Kong.
• Advised a cloud computing company on the offer of voice services as part of its services and applied for telecoms licences in Hong Kong.
• Advised a major car manufacturer on issues relating to connected car communications from a telecoms regulatory point of view.
• Advised a financial software, data, and media company on the provision of "click-to-dial" services on its platform, which is an emerging method of communication which does not fit squarely into the existing regulatory framework.
• Advised on an industry code to be followed by content service providers (CSPs) and mobile network operators (MNOs) in Hong Kong. The industry code sets out guiding principles for compliance by CSPs and MNOs to ensure that appropriate procedures and processes are put in place to protect consumers.
• Advised on regulatory matters since the mid 1990s and drafted all types of agreements (interconnect; wayleave; equipment lease) and advised on anti-competition issues (including in judicial reviews against the regulator relating to VOIP issues).
• Advised on all types of licensing issues in Asia.
• Advised on the regulatory side in due diligence part of M&A transactions.

University of Strathclyde, LLM, with distinction, Information Technology and Telecommunications Law

The University of Hong Kong, PCLL, with distinction

Manchester Metropolitan University, CPE (Commendation)

• 英国法（イングランド及びウェールズ）事務弁護士（ソリシター）
• Hong Kong

• Immediate Past President and Executive Board Member, ITechlaw (premier association of technology lawyers)
• Board Member, Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design Ltd
• Member of Global Board of the Commons Project
• Member of Editorial Board, Global Data Review
• Member of Professional Board, Computer Law & Security Report 
• Asia editor, Computer and Telecommunications Law Review
• Member, DotTrademark Policy Committee
• Board Member of the International Institute of Communications (Hong Kong Chapter)
• Legal Advisor, Communications Association of Hong Kong Limited
• Co-chair, IP Committee, American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
• Asia Patent Attorneys Association
• International Trademark Association (INTA)
• Hong Kong Institute of Trademark Practitioners
• Domain name panellist, WIPO (including for Legal Rights Objections and Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure) – more than 100 decisions rendered so far in a number of languages
• Domain name panellist, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and Asian Domain Name Resolution Centre (including for Uniform Rapid Suspension Procedure)
• Arbitrator, Panel of Arbitrators for Intellectual Property Disputes, HKIAC