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Sheena Jacob

Partner

Portrait of Sheena Jacob

Sheena Jacob

Partner

Contact
CMS Holborn Asia
7 Straits View
Marina One East Tower
#19-01
Singapore 018936
Languages English
Intellectual Property

Sheena is the Head of the regional Southeast Asian Intellectual Property practice at CMS Holborn Asia. Qualified in Singapore, New York, England & Wales, she is a leading international lawyer in the field of Intellectual Property with more than 25 years of specialist experience in Asia. Sheena manages a team that handles trademark and patent prosecution in Southeast Asia, IP litigation and commercial IP transactions such as licensing and commercialization deals in the tech, media and life science sectors in Asia Pacific. Sheena is known for her sound, commercial advice and is widely acknowledged as a global thought leader on cutting-edge issues in the Intellectual Property field.

Sheena is also a Singapore registered patent agent, a Commissioner for Oaths and a Notary Public. She holds leadership positions in Licensing Executives Society Singapore and the AIPPI Singapore committee.

She is ranked as a leading Intellectual Property lawyer in numerous publications including Asialaw Leading Lawyers 2021, Asia IP Leading Stars 2021, Women in Business Law, Who’s Who Legal IP, Life Sciences 2021, Patents 2019, Who’s Who Legal Life Sciences 2022, World Trademark Review 2020 and IAM Patents 1000.

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“[the] pristine reputation of Sheena Jacob. Commended for her “client management and business developments skills, she really delivers high-level service”. The England and Wales, Singapore and New York-qualified lawyer is a magnet for US concerns for cross-border work and assistance with International Trade Commission proceedings.”

World Trademark Review, 2020

“One client indicates why her services are so sought-after: “Sheena has always been very attentive to my needs and delivers very high-quality and professional work in a timely manner. She has always been easily approachable and is easy to work with because she is quick and efficient. She is also familiar with the local scene, which makes her one of the top go-to IP lawyers in the region.”

IAM Patent 1000

“[the] pristine reputation of Sheena Jacob. Commended for her “client management and business developments skills, she really delivers high-level service”. The England and Wales, Singapore and New York-qualified lawyer is a magnet for US concerns for cross-border work and assistance with International Trade Commission proceedings.”

World Trademark Review, 2020

“One client indicates why her services are so sought-after: “Sheena has always been very attentive to my needs and delivers very high-quality and professional work in a timely manner. She has always been easily approachable and is easy to work with because she is quick and efficient. She is also familiar with the local scene, which makes her one of the top go-to IP lawyers in the region.”

IAM Patent 1000

Relevant experience

  • Nestle, in the first ever shape mark litigation in Singapore for the 3D shape mark for KIT KAT before the High Court and the full Court of Appeal.
  • One of the largest European conglomerates for collaboration and licensing arrangements in the field of imaging research with Singapore’s largest research institute.
  • One of the ten fastest growing Singapore companies, Hegen, in handling its global IP portfolio, including trade marks, patents and designs.
  • Acting for one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies in managing its trade mark portfolio in Singapore.
  • One of Singapore’s leading telco companies, Government agency GovTech and other companies on their patent portfolios.
  • Alvogen, a leading pharmaceutical company in relation to patent issues and its pharmaceutical products in Singapore.
  • Deciem, a fast growing cult cosmetics company in the launch and on-going development of its cosmetics business in Asia.
  • A world-leading media company on its intellectual property licensing, merchandising and regulatory issues in Southeast Asia, including in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore relating to its OTT streaming service and other businesses.
  • One of the world’s leading media companies on the IP issues relating to the creation of NFTs for its content as well as the launch of its streaming service in Philippines.
  • A technology company to set up the first ever IP Trust in Singapore to hold its IP assets and transferring ownership of its assets.
  • A leading Chinese ecommerce platform, as an expert witness in US ITC proceedings.
  • A retail market leader in IP arbitration proceedings before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
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Memberships & Roles

  • American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • International Trademark Association
  • Treasurer, Singapore International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property 
  • Licensing Executives Society, Executive Committee Singapore
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Publications

  • Featured, Time for Transition: Energy M&A 2022
  • Trade Secrets in Singapore 2021
  • Amendments to the Copyright Law in Singapore, 2021
  • Compulsory Licensing in Singapore 2021
  • Author, International Comparative Legal Guide, Trade Marks 2018 Singapore Chapter
  • Author, The Franchise Law Review, Singapore Chapter
  • Author, Intellectual Property and Risk Management Chapters, Business Guide to Competition Law
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Lectures list

  • Speaker AIPLA Annual Meeting, Washington DC 2017, 2018
  • Panelist, Federal Circuit Bar Association, Ottawa 2018 
  • Panelist, INTA Annual Meeting 2020
  • Moderator, LES Webinar on NFTs, 2021  
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Education

  • LLM New York University, New York.
  • LLB (Hons), National University of Singapore, Singapore
  • Singapore Patent Agent
  • Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public
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TMT - Technology, Media & Telecommunications

Sheena is a leading Asian regional technology lawyer with a strong cybersecurity, media, privacy and fintech practice at CMS Holborn Asia. Holding double international privacy certifications from the IAPP, Sheena has been active in technology in Asia for more than 25 years. She also represents a significant number of industry players in the entertainment and media industry including a number of the leading streaming platforms and has strong experience with cybersecurity and data localization issues across Asia.

Sheena works closely with a team of technology lawyers and advises on regulatory issues in the media, telecoms and fintech sectors in Asia. Sheena is ranked as a leading TMT lawyer in Asia and is known for her sound, commercial advice. She has handled a number of high profile data breaches involving ransomware attacks and works closely with clients to resolve issues with customers and regulators. She is one of only a few women lawyers active in the NFT space in Asia and has advised clients on the creation and mining of NFTs and their regulation across the various countries in Asia. She advises companies on their digital assets including gaming tokens, NFTs as well as payment platforms and digital payment tokens or cryptocurrencies.

Sheena is a member of the Global Board of iTechlaw, the first Singaporean to hold this post. She was also the only lawyer in Singapore listed as one of the Top Women in Cybersecurity and has written numerous articles on privacy, cybersecurity and the regulation of fintech. She currently sits on a number of industry committees. 

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“Nominations described Sheena as being 'highly proficient in IP, IT and data privacy, as evidenced by her client base, accolades and board representation' and 'an internationally experienced data protection specialist with extensive pan-Asian credentials that few others have in the region."

ALB Top TMT 50 Lawyers in Asia 2021

“Nominations described Sheena as being 'highly proficient in IP, IT and data privacy, as evidenced by her client base, accolades and board representation' and 'an internationally experienced data protection specialist with extensive pan-Asian credentials that few others have in the region'.

Top 100 Lawyers Singapore, Asia Business Law Journal 2019

"Sheena is ranked as a Leading Lawyer for IT, Telco and Media."

Asialaw Leading Lawyers

“Nominations described Sheena as being 'highly proficient in IP, IT and data privacy, as evidenced by her client base, accolades and board representation' and 'an internationally experienced data protection specialist with extensive pan-Asian credentials that few others have in the region."

ALB Top TMT 50 Lawyers in Asia 2021

“Nominations described Sheena as being 'highly proficient in IP, IT and data privacy, as evidenced by her client base, accolades and board representation' and 'an internationally experienced data protection specialist with extensive pan-Asian credentials that few others have in the region'.

Top 100 Lawyers Singapore, Asia Business Law Journal 2019

"Sheena is ranked as a Leading Lawyer for IT, Telco and Media."

Asialaw Leading Lawyers

Relevant experience

  • AI Singapore, as counsel for licensing of AI technology.
  • Several Forbes 100 companies on their data protection compliance programs for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, Japan, HK and the Philippines.
  • A leading data centre provider on its regulatory and licensing issues including telecommunications, privacy and cybersecurity issues throughout the Asia Pacific region. 
  • Companies in various industries on complex data breaches originating in Asia or resulting in data breaches affecting individuals in Asian countries including China, Korea, Japan, HK, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, India, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines.
  • A global media company on its regulatory and privacy issues across Southeast Asia.
  • A Singapore-based leading ecommerce and luxury goods company on developing its ecommerce platform.
  • A bank on implementing its cloud strategy and complying with the MAS Technology Risk Management Guidelines.
  • A Singapore Government agency in implementing its privacy and data protection compliance program across its entire group.
  • A Swiss multinational on data sharing arrangements across its various companies in Asia, US and Europe.
  • An online platform in considering data localization issues in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. 
  • A payment services platform in relation to its regulatory licensing.
  • Various digital token issuers on regulations relating to the issuance and marketing of their digital tokens, including cryptocurrencies, in Asia.
  • Several gaming companies on their digital gaming token and regulations.
  • A large multinational on issuing NFTs for its content on a third party platform.
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Memberships & Roles

  • Licensing Executives Society, Executive Committee member
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals
  • International Technology Law Association, Global Board, Asia Conference Vice Chair
  • British Chamber of Commerce, ICT Committee
  • Ministry of Law, Industry Engagement Advisory Group for Legal Tech Platform, 2022
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Publications

  • Impact of GDPR in Singapore, 2021
  • Data Law Navigator, 2021
  • 5G Regulation and Law in Singapore, 2021
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Lectures list

  • Podcast, Navigating the data protection landscape in Asia, 2021
  • Tech Innovation Podcast, 2021
  • LES Webinar on NFTs, 2021 
  • Moderator, iTechlaw India Conference 2021
  • Data protection, INTA Annual Conference, 2020
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Education

  • LLM New York University, New York
  • LLB (Hons), National University of Singapore, Singapore
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Expertise

Feed

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Epis­ode #1 - Nav­ig­at­ing the data pro­tec­tion land­scape in Asia, in­clud­ing...
Nick Beck­ett (Beijing/Hong Kong) chats with Jonath­an Chu (Hong Kong) and Sheena Jac­ob (Singa­pore) on data pro­tec­tion and in par­tic­u­lar:Does Asia need a GDPR equi­val­ent? The new China PIPL - should com­pan­ies be con­cerned? Cross-bor­der trans­fers of per­son­al data in Asia - cut­ting through the thick­et So you have a breach in Asia - how to man­age a data breach in this part of the world Cy­ber­se­cur­ity laws and reg­u­la­tion of crit­ic­al sec­tors - the new na­tion­al se­cur­ity fron­ti­er
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26/10/2021
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1. Are COV­ID-19 vac­cin­a­tions ob­lig­at­ory in your jur­is­dic­tion? Are you ex­pect­ing any le­gis­lat­ive changes to en­able man­dat­ory vac­cines for all or cer­tain people (e.g. health­care pro­fes­sion­als, pub­lic ser­vants...
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23/09/2021
Are you ready for the new PRC Per­son­al In­form­a­tion Pro­tec­tion Law?
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Trans­fer of IP rights in Singa­pore
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