Sum Lam

Sum Lam
EducationChinese University of Hong Kong (BSc)

Tsinghua University (JM)
King's College London (MA)
University of California, Berkeley (LLM)

University of Oxford (EMBA)
OccupationsLawyer, patent attorney

Sum Lam is a Hong Kong-based lawyer and patent attorney. He represented Warner-Lambert before China's Supreme People's Court in a patent invalidation dispute involving atorvastatin.

Education and career

Lam studied chemistry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and later law at Tsinghua University, King's College London and the University of California, Berkeley. He also received an Executive MBA from the University of Oxford. In 2004, Lam became the first person from Hong Kong to pass the Chinese patent bar examination.

Lam worked at China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd. and later at Squire Patton Boggs. While at China Patent Agent (H.K.) Ltd., he represented Warner-Lambert in a dispute over the validity of a patent for crystalline atorvastatin before the Supreme People's Court of China. The case concerned whether the patent sufficiently disclosed the claimed invention. The Supreme People's Court ultimately upheld the invalidation of the patent. Lam was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2018 and later qualified as a solicitor advocate. In 2019, he joined Eversheds Sutherland, where he serves as head of patents for Greater China.

In 2025, Lam became a visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford. He has written and contributed to legal works on intellectual property law, including the fourth edition of Butterworths Hong Kong Patent Law Handbook. In 2026, he co-authored Navigating AI Transformation: Business Innovation, Strategy, and Risk with Kejia Hu, Tian Wu and Jasper Shi Da Xu.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "(2014)行提字第8号发明专利权无效行政纠纷 - 最高人民法院知识产权法庭". ipc.court.gov.cn. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  2. ↑ "Sum Lam". Eversheds Sutherland. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  3. ↑ "Legal Profile". www.mywsba.org. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  4. 1 2 "Navigating AI Transformation". link.springer.com. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  5. ↑ "崇基校友（二零一六年三月號）" (PDF) (in Traditional Chinese). 崇基學院, 香港中文大學. p. 16. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  6. ↑ "AI‑Powered Transformation of TMT: Opportunities, Risks and Regulatory Realities". go.lexisnexis.com.hk. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  7. ↑ "EMBA Profiles - Class of January 2024" (PDF). Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. 2024. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  8. ↑ "Certificate of IP Laws and Practice" (PDF). Hong Kong Productivity Council. 2022. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  9. ↑ "(2014)行提字第8号发明专利权无效行政纠纷 - 最高人民法院知识产权法庭". 最高人民法院知识产权法庭 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2020-02-07. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  10. ↑ "2016年度中国知財関連司法動向調査" (PDF) (in Japanese). 日本貿易振興機構（JETRO）北京事務所 知識産権部. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  11. ↑ Chen, Feng-Chi; Yeh, Kuo-Liang (2016-11-01). "Invalidation of Atorvastatin Patent Highlights Complex Chinese Patent Law". Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 37 (11): 883–886. doi:10.1016/j.tips.2016.08.004. ISSN 0165-6147.
  12. ↑ Staff, B. C. "China's top court invalidates Lipitor patent". BioCentury. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  13. ↑ "China National Intellectual Property Administration IPR Special Pfizer Loses in the Case of Lipid Lowering Medicine". english.cnipa.gov.cn. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  14. ↑ "People at EVERSHEDS SUTHERLAND - The Law Society". solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  15. 1 2 "Human-Algorithm Interaction 2025 Programme" (PDF). Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  16. ↑ "Eversheds Sutherland - Patent 1000 - IAM". www.iam-media.com. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  17. ↑ "World's top EV battery maker CATL files fresh infringement lawsuit, adds to China's lengthy battery patent docket – ip fray". 2025-01-06. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  18. ↑ "Butterworths Hong Kong Patent Law Handbook 4th ed". www.bloomsbury.com.hk. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  19. ↑ Lau, Chloe; Tan, Audrey; Krishnann, Saraswathy; Lam, Sum; Mak, Chevy, eds. (2023). Butterworths Hong Kong patent law handbook: Zhuan li tiao li (di 514 zhang). Patents Ordiance (Cap 514) = (Fourth ed.). Hong Kong: LexisNexis. ISBN 978-988-8815-10-4.
  20. ↑ "Butterworths Hong Kong Bankruptcy Law Handbook - Eighth Edition". store.lexisnexis.com. Retrieved 2026-10-16.
  21. ↑ Hu, Kejia; Lam, Sum; Wu, Tian; Xu, Jasper Shi Da (2026-08-27). Navigating AI Transformation: Business Innovation, Strategy, and Risk. Springer Nature Switzerland. ISBN 978-3-032-28869-1.