JUVE Comment

The hallmark of Linklaters’ patent practice is its work for innovator pharmaceutical clients, often in high-profile cases with pan-European relevance. For example, the team around Pauline Debré represents Sanofi and Regeneron in the French part of the dispute with Amgen over blockbuster drug Praluent/Repatha. The practice’s life sciences expertise also came into play for AFM Télethon, when the team represented the French non-profit organisation in a dispute over co-ownership rights and breach of confidentiality. This was in the context of a research collaboration involving a patent protecting gene therapy for oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy.

Nevertheless, despite recently also gaining new life sciences clients, the practice has not yet achieved the market visibility of competitors such as A&O Shearman in this field.

However, the practice has further cemented its market visibility in various other technologies, such as medical devices and telecommunications. This is underscored by the ongoing dispute for Intel, which is now pending before the Supreme Court, and a significant win for Seoul Viosys at the UPC’s Paris local division in a French-language case. The latter also demonstrates that Linklaters is increasingly shifting the focus of its work to the UPC. New client Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen, for example, entrusted a French-German team led by Debré alongside Dutch firm Brinkhof as co-lead with an action against 2seventy bio at the Brussels local division concerning an antigen receptor.

The promotion of dual-qualified lawyer Gaelle Bourout to partner demonstrates Linklaters’ commitment to investing in young talent and strengthening the patent practice at partner level.

Strengths

Litigation for innovator drug manufacturers in pharma cases.

Recommended individuals

Pauline Debré

Team

8 lawyers, 1 dual qualified

Clients

Litigation: Sanofi/Regeneron against Amgen over cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha/Praluent; AFM Téléthon against research partners in UK and France over breach of contract in research collaboration over gene therapy for OPMD; Intel against Intellectual Ventures II over SEPs for ADSL; Seoul Viosys against FNAC and Bigben over ultraviolet-light emitting device (all public knowledge).