It’s not often we get to write about Brunei. The country is often overshadowed by its much larger neighbours – it shares an island with Malaysia and Indonesia, and is, in fact, divided into two sections joined by Malaysia’s Asia Highway Route 150. Colin Ong, managing partner of Dr. Colin Ong Legal Services, in 2014 wrote for the Oxford Business Group that “Brunei Darussalam is a place of tranquility.” 

But Brunei is driving itself forward in the tech space through a series of initiatives designed to transform itself into a “smart nation,” one that economist Vanne Khut, writing in Brunei’s The Scoop, says will be driven by digital government, digital economy and digital society.  

“The first five-year Digital Economy Masterplan 2025 has been launched to drive and strengthen Brunei’s digitalization momentum,” Khut, who is an economist with the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) and formerly the organization’s country economist for Brunei, wrote for the publication last year. “At the same time, various frameworks, strategic plans and skill training programs have also been developed, including ICT competency framework; coding program for young jobseekers; and digital upskilling program. The AITI Strategic Plan 2020-2025 has also been formulated to achieve a thriving digital industry, connected nation, and digitally enriched society.” 

Khut says that the rapid shift toward digital solutions and innovation highlights the growing importance of the information and communication technology sector in Brunei. “In fact, ICT had been identified as a priority industry in the country’s economic diversification agenda even prior to the pandemic. Such early development of the industry had proved to be beneficial for Brunei when the first wave of the Covid-19 hit the Sultanate. In 2020, the ICT sector became a bright spot, growing robustly by 15.9% from just 0.1% in 2019.” 

Digital connectivity has seen notable progress, she wrote. “The country’s 4G network coverage is estimated by Statista to have reached 100 percent in 2023, while the 5G network has already been put into use throughout the country since June 2023, marking the start of a new digital era to support Brunei’s journey to become a Smart Nation.” 

It is against that backdrop that we bring you our list of Brunei’s IP Experts, a list of 10 key intellectual property lawyers who almost certainly be involved in the future of IP in the kingdom.  

Our list includes two lawyers each from AIP Law (Nur’Azizah Ahmad and Aisha Alkaff) and CCW Partnership (Hung Zheng On and Justin Phua), and one lawyer each from Cheok Advocates & Solicitors; Dr. Colin Ong Legal Services; LZ Hussain & Co.; Raed Lim Advocates and Solicitors, Y.C. Lee & Lee; and Yusof Halim & Partners.  

Most of the lawyers named to our list have multiple practice specialties. Many of them are litigators, while others concentrate on prosecution work or provide strategic advice.  

All of them have something in common: they are experts in their fields and, in one way or another, they provide extra value for their clients. They are Asia IP’s Brunei IP Experts. – GREGORY GLASS 

Brunei’s IP Experts is based solely on independent editorial research conducted by Asia IP. As part of this project, we turned to in-house counsel in Southeast Asia and around the world, as well as Southeast Asia-focused partners at international law firms, and asked them to nominate private-practice lawyers including foreign legal consultants, advisers and counsel.  

The final list reflects the nominations received combined with the input of the editorial team at Asia IP, which has nearly 50 years of collective experience in researching and understanding the Southeast Asian legal market. 

All private practice intellectual property lawyers in Brunei were eligible for inclusion in the nominations process; there were no fees or other requirements for inclusion in the process. 

The names of our 10 IP Experts are published here. Each IP Expert was given the opportunity to include their biography and contact details in print and on our website, for which a fee was charged.