Charles Russell Speechlys and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe are advising on the sale of the intellectual property rights of children's book character Paddington Bear.

Charles Russell Speechlys advised Paddington and Company Limited on the sale to production and distribution company StudioCanal with a team led by corporate partner Martin Wright.

All rights were purchased with the exception of the brand's publishing rights, retained by author Michael Bond, who created the Paddington bear character in 1958.

Orrick advised StudioCanal with a City-based cross practice team that was led by corporate partner Jinal Shah and included head of London IP, IT and privacy Kolvin Stone and tax partner Ed Denny.

The US firm is also currently acting on Walmart's $1.5bn (£1.01bn) sale of its China e-commerce business to JD.com.

The deal sees Walmart sell its China online grocery business, Yihaodian, for a five percent stake in JD.com.

JD.com, China's largest internet company by revenue, has mandated Orrick and PRC firm Han Kun Law Offices as legal counsel.

Orrick's team includes Shanghai-based corporate partner Jie Sun, Beijing partner Ning Zhang and Hong Kong-based partner Connie Cheung, who also advised on the corporate aspects of the deal. The team also includes Shanghai-based partner Yufeng Ma who handled the IP law elements of the transaction