Agfa files UPC case against Gucci over leather product printing

Printing company Agfa has sued luxury goods brand Gucci at the Hamburg UPC local division (case ID: ACT_561734/2023). The case concerns Agfa’s patent EP 3 388 490, which covers a manufacturing method for embellishing natural leather with a decorative image. This is a key future field for Agfa. The latter accuses Gucci of using this method to decorate their leather products. Agfa is suing numerous Gucci companies, including German and Belgian subsidiaries, over the patent.

The company chose to file suit at the Hamburg division. Current presiding judge of the UPC local division Hamburg is Sabine Klepsch, who is also dual-qualified as a chemist. This could be helpful given the subject of the patent.

Brinkhof-Vossius partnership in play

Daan de Lange

The patent teams of Dutch law firm Brinkhof and German mixed law firm Vossius are representing Agfa. The suit is the first action the firms have filed at the UPC under their cooperation Vossius Brinkhof UPC Litigators.

The firms have set up a joint team led by German lawyer Kai Rüting and Dutch lawyer Daan de Lange.

The core team includes Alexander de Leeuw from Brinkhof and patent attorney Stefan Fickert from Vossius. Hans Louis Strijckers has worked at Agfa’s in-house IP department for many years, with the company elevating him to head of department in the spring.

Kai Rüting

Brinkhof has a long-standing client relationship with Agfa. Previously, it successfully represented the company in a case against Xingraphics, which went all the way to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. Brinkhof has also assisted the company in a dispute with Fujifilm.

First-known patent suit against Gucci

On the other hand, Gucci’s representatives in the case brought by Agfa are not yet publicly known. According to JUVE Patent research, the luxury goods manufacturer has had no pending patent proceedings in Europe in recent years.

So far, Gucci was mainly involved in product piracy cases in IP.

For Agfa
Brinkhof (Amsterdam): Daan de Lange (partner); associates: Alexander de Leeuw, Isabelle Kleinveld
Vossius & Partner (Munich): Kai Rüting (partner); Stefan Fickert (partner, patent attorney); associate: Leonie Dißmann-Fuchs
In-house (Mortsel): Hans Louis Strijckers (head of IP)

For Gucci and subsidiaries
No information

Unified Patent Court, local division Hamburg, first instance
Sabine Klepsch (presiding judge), Camille Lignieres, Stefan Schilling