JUVE Comment

The Munich practice of the US law firm consolidated its position in litigation over mobile communication, IT, chip technology, and medical devices. The practice around Jochen Herr is highly visible for its defence of Innoscience against a broad campaign by Infineon concerning gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors. The firm is handling all German and the parallel US proceedings. The well-oiled international cooperation is also demonstrated by the work for MediaTek in an extensive multi-jurisdictional case against Huawei and Daedalus Prime. In these global battles, both of which were settled in 2025, the Munich team handled the German and UPC proceedings, collaborating with colleagues from China, the UK, and the US. The recent hire of experienced litigator Jin Ooi in London has the potential to strengthen the pan-European cooperation futher.

The established German-US axis regularly brings new work to the Munich practice, which was recently instructed by two major US tech companies for advice on possible litigation at the UPC.

With loyal long-standing clients such as Becton Dickinson and Dentsply the team also maintains its strength in medical technology, while at the same time sucessfully expanding its life sciences practice. It now acts as global coordination counsel for major pharmaceutical player AstraZeneca. At the same time, Finnegan continues to work for a broad range of clients from industries such as packaging, solar technology, and automotive. For example, at the UPC the team represents ZF Friedrichshafen against Schwäbische Hüttenwerke Automotive over mechanics and NovaCloud against Amazon over cloud computing.

The team continues its growth path, having promoted a young partner and a counsel as well as adding new associates. This growth underscores the US firm’s ambitions to increasingly represent its clients before the UPC. With its mixed approach of litigators in cooperation with patent attorneys, the Munich team plays a central role in this strategy, now boasting sufficient team strength to support these efforts.

Strengths

Litigation with a mixed approach and a focus on electronics, mobile communication, IT, chip technology, and medical devices.

Recommended individuals

Jochen Herr (“excellent litigator, adept at getting to the heart of complex legal issues”, competitor)

Team

8 lawyers, 3 patent attorneys, 2 dual-qualified

Clients

Litigation: Innoscience against Infineon over gallium nitride transistors; NovaCloud Licensing against Amazon over cloud-computing technology; MediaTek against Huawei over 4G and 5G (settled 2025); REC Solar in nullity proceedings against Meyer Burger over solar modules (ended 2025); BMW against US supplier over trade secrets. EPO oppositions: Dentsply against Guidance Endodontics over endodontic files; Dentsply against Ivoclar Vivadent over the use of glass ceramic as dental material; REC Solar against various opponents over circuits in solar panels; SharkNinja against various opponents over vacuum cleaners; ZF Friedrichshafen over mechanics. Frequent litigation and advice for AstraZeneca, Becton Dickinson, Borealis, Dentsply Sirona, Giant, i-SENS, Orion Corporation, RealD, WS Audiology.