JUVE Comment

Even after the departure of senior partner Marleen van den Horst to Dutch firm La Gro in early 2023, the well-established patent litigation team of this national full-service firm remains a visible player in the Dutch patent market. Partner Jaap Bremer took over the helm and led the team into the new UPC era. It was helpful that core client Viatris kept the team busy with several campaigns against original drug manufacturers. One example is the work on the market launch of generic versions of blockbuster fingolimod. The team also acted for Viatris regarding Biogen’s Tecfidera and regarding Bayer’s Xarelto.

Such work softened the blow when generic drug manufacturers Insud Pharma and Stada went to LA Gro with van den Horst. At present it is hard to tell whether InterDigital – a flagship client in mobile communications – will also switch to La Gro or stick with BarentsKrans in the long term, as the patent holder is currently focusing on litigation in the UK and Germany. Nevertheless, the team has valuable contacts to Dutch mobile communication companies.

European set-up

The close ties to Viatris show the BarentsKrans’ patent team is regularly active in Dutch proceedings for generic drug companies – especially when it comes to pan-European litigation campaigns waged by originators, or in the medical device field. For Viatris the team works closely with some Dutch patent attorney firms such as AOMB or NLO. It also relies on a permanent international network.

Now that the UPC has launched, BarentsKrans has suffered as a result of the local division The Hague getting off to a somewhat poor start, and due to the reticence of Dutch clients to launch UPC cases. Like many of the firm’s Dutch competitors, BarentsKrans has no active UPC cases but has advised clients on UPC matters. To gain more presence in UPC cases, it will have to hone its direct contacts to clients and German law firms. BarentsKrans’ extensive litigation experience but small team lends itself well to cooperation with other Dutch or German firms when complex cases require larger teams.

Strengths

Strong focus on litigation regarding pharma patents, especially for generic drug companies.

Recommended individuals

Jaap Bremer (“very good advocacy skills”, “has built up a small but very good team”, competitors).

Team

4 lawyers

Clients

Litigation: Viatris against Novartis in PI proceedings regarding SPC for multiple sclerosis drug fingolimod/Gilenya; Viatris against Biogen over multiple sclerosis drug dimethylfumarate/Tecfidera; Viatris against Bayer over thrombosis drug rivaroxaban/Xarelto; Advance Medical Designs against Corbin regarding medical device; Cheesepop against GEHO in patent and know-how licence dispute over manufacturing method for roasted cheese products. Advice: Huisman Equipment concerning licence agreement with Kongsberg regarding electric heave compensation and energy storage technology in heavy lifting cranes.