IP Due Diligence for Animated Series Acquisition

A major telecom company was evaluating the acquisition of a business that owns the rights to one of the most popular animated series in the CIS market. The target held a network of IP agreements with various partners, and the client needed confidence that those rights were secure, properly structured, and enforceable across jurisdictions. The contracts spanned UAE and Hong Kong law, layered cross-border IP risks with private international law questions, and relied on arbitration as the primary dispute resolution mechanism. The client needed a clear picture of the IP framework and its legal exposure before committing capital to a deal exceeding $15M.

We delivered a structured IP due diligence covering every layer of the target's rights framework:

1. Contract review — analyzed the full web of cross-border IP agreements, mapping ownership chains, licensing terms, and enforceability across the UAE and Hong Kong.
2. Multi-jurisdictional risk analysis — assessed how the contracts interact across legal systems, flagging conflicts of law and gaps in IP protection.
3. Private international law assessment — worked through governing law and recognition issues to test how the rights would hold up in disputes outside their home jurisdictions.
4. Dispute resolution review — evaluated the arbitration clauses and enforcement pathways, focusing on practical outcomes if a partner challenged the rights post-acquisition.