Winston & Strawn has opened an office in Taiwan as the firm looks to expand its geographical footprint in Asia.

The new base – located in capital Tapei – is the fourth office for the firm in Asia alongside Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and its eighteenth globally.

The firm first announced plans for the Taiwan office in January in order to accommodate its US International Trade Commission (ITC) practice.

"Our overall goals for Asia include building our presence in intellectual property, corporate, antitrust, energy, and disputes," said David Hall-Jones, the firm's Asia managing partner.

"Taiwan is a key market for our US International Trade Commission (ITC) Section 337 practice, and building a strong presence in Taipei will be an important factor in serving our growing number of clients."

The office will begin with around four lawyers, but has the capacity to support up to twenty people.

There are currently four key partners and specialist ITC litigators managing the firm's ITC workload from the US, namely John Alison, Steve Anzalone, Paul Goulet and Tom Jarvis.

All were hired in Washington DC along with six other lawyers in July last year from IP firm Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner (Finnegan).

Hall-Jones said that Alison will head up the Tapei base, splitting his time between Taiwan and Washington, while the other partners will continue to visit Taiwan once a month.

Patent litigator Vivian Kuo, also based in Washington, will work alongside with the team, as will IP partners David Wang in Silicon Valley and Mike Tomasulo in Los Angeles.

Asia antitrust partner Steve Harris, who joined the firm's Washington office in October, will meanwhile extend the range of trade regulation services to be provided from Tapei.

Taiwan's legal market is currently small and competitive, attracting foreign lawyers with an interest in IP and technology work.

International firms with a presence in the capital include Baker & McKenzie, Jones Day, K&L Gates and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. 

Other firms who do work in the market include Bird & Bird and Hogan Lovells.