History


Rouse began life in a serviced office in the Docklands area of London in 1990 with a lawyer and a big idea. Within a year some of the world's leading brand owners were enlisting its help. Within ten years it had established nine offices in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Now it is widely recognised as one of the leading IP businesses in the world.

When Rouse was established in July 1990, counterfeiting problems in Asia were escalating. For many brand owners enforcement was simply too difficult.

Peter Rouse

Peter Rouse had been a partner with Baker McKenzie in Singapore. He had first-hand experience of the massive problems IP owners were facing in Asia and was confident he could offer them some solutions. He returned to London with the idea of establishing a specialist IP firm that would be able to work closely with its clients in a way that he believed large law firms were finding it difficult to do. The firm would model itself on the roles and responsibilities of in-house Counsel; its objectives and the client's objectives would be one.

The firm he established was Rouse & Co. It was from the outset a different kind of firm - non-hierarchical, creative and results-oriented. It made it its business to get to know its clients well and it worked closely with them, focusing on practical results and charging reasonable and totally transparent fees. Importantly, it was not just a law firm. Peter was convinced that in order to achieve the results clients were looking for, lawyers had to work closely with a range of other professionals, in particular specialist IP investigators. Access to the right information was crucial.
 

Rupert Ross-Macdonald

Within six months, the firm was starting to grow. It was overseeing a Customs monitoring application - which in those days virtually no-one did - for a major automobile manufacturer and was getting impressive results. More help was needed and at the start of 1991, Rupert Ross-Macdonald, who is now Chief Executive, joined the staff. In 1992 he was joined by Stuart Adams, now Deputy Chief Executive. At this stage, the firm was also beginning to handle major enforcement programmes in Eastern Europe, India and China. Clients liked what they were seeing.
 

Stuart Adams

In 1993, an office was opened in Beijing in China. With customary foresight, the firm got together with a group of IP owners who were having problems in China. The group, known as the Beijing Action Group, developed a strategy for dealing with IP issues in China. Since that time, the practice in China has grown dramatically. The firm now has offices also in Shanghai and Guangzhou and an associated law firm, Yu & Partners, in Hong Kong.

The growing firm gained a huge boost in 1994 when its London office was joined by well-known and highly respected UK trade mark lawyer, Tony Willoughby.

Peter Rouse, Rupert Ross-Macdonald, Tony Willoughby, Stuart Adams

Tony has been described in legal directories as the 'founding father and leading light of IP in the UK' and under his guidance Rouse's UK law firm developed into one of the foremost IP legal practices in the UK.  From 1996 to 2006, when its name was changed to Rouse Legal, the firm was known as Willoughby & Partners.    

From the outset Rouse's strategy had been to be solely IP-focused. Indeed, in its early years the firm concentrated on, and forged an extensive reputation for, its anti-counterfeiting expertise and experience. From the mid-90s it set out to broaden its scope and develop expertise in all areas of IP.

1997 saw dramatic expansion with the opening of offices in Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta and the acquisition of a commercial IP and trade mark practice in Oxford.

In 1998, the trade mark filing practice began to expand with the arrival of Mark Foreman from Clifford Chance in the UK. Since then trade mark filing practices have been developed in all other offices.

Rupert Ross-Macdonald

In 2000, Peter Rouse moved on to pursue other opportunities and Rupert Ross-Macdonald (looking only a little older than he had in 1991) took over as Chief Executive.

The firm continued to go from strength to strength. Its regional presence in South East Asia grew further with the opening of an office in Bangkok in 2000. In London, the arrival in 2001 of Diana Sternfeld, an experienced patent litigator, saw the beginning of Rouse's patent practice and the continued expansion of its reputation beyond 'soft' IP enforcement.

The firm's hard IP practice developed further with the acquisition of a UK and European patent agency in 2003. Both patent agency and patent commercialisation services are now provided in all offices. By now, Rouse was providing the full range of IP services from 14 offices around the world. At this stage the firm was also beginning to manage major enforcement programmes in India. In recent years, Rouse has established operations in the Philippines, as well as liaison offices in New York and Sydney.

In a relatively short space of time, the firm has become a major player in the world of IP, with more than 500 staff worldwide. But despite the firm's growth and development, its spirit has not changed. Key elements of the original proposition and strategy are as important today as they have always been. These are:
  • putting the client first;
  • delivering value for money;
  • providing access to both 'know how' and 'know who';
  • a cutting edge approach; and
  • a responsive, 'can do' attitude

.......all provided in a style best described as....... 'unstuffy'.