JUVE Comment

The patent team at this full-service law firm is highly active in mobile communications patent disputes. The practice, led by Munich partner Ralph Nack, has for years regularly defended Asian implementers TCL and Xiaomi against lawsuits from patent pools and NPEs in Germany. TCL recently instructed Noerr for UPC matters as well. This ongoing work has earned the lawyers a strong reputation in FRAND issues.

Beyond mobile communications litigation, the practice has built a name for itself in disputes concerning various complex technologies across other sectors. Here, it typically advises a clientele of medium-sized industrial companies, characteristic of large German law firms. The team now represents plaintiff Centripetal Networks in a substantial series of cases against Cisco, Palo Alto Networks and Keysight over network security solutions. This dispute has now reached the UPC. Another notable client is Arthrex, in matters concerning surgical suture material. However, the team handles pharmaceutical cases only sporadically.

Alongside the Munich litigation team, a Dresden-based partner advises Noerr’s technology-focused clients on licences, R&D collaborations and M&A. His clientele includes several pharmaceutical manufacturers but primarily comprises OEMs and suppliers from the automotive industry.

European set-up

In recent years, the German law firm’s patent practice has cultivated close relationships with similarly positioned national firms and independent boutiques. These connections have proven valuable in cross-border disputes. One example is the joint work with August Debouzy for a French NPE on a hepatitis D therapeutic. Additionally, Noerr is coordinating litigation for Centripetal Networks across four jurisdictions. The team is also regularly involved in international SEP disputes for Chinese implementers such as Honor, TCL and Xiaomi, who benefit from the firm’s well-established China Desk.

Its experience in international disputes has recently paid dividends at the UPC. Initially, like other German firms such as Gleiss, Noerr was less prominent there than large international patent teams like Hogan Lovells or Taylor Wessing.

However, Noerr’s clientele gained significant confidence in the new court, particularly in the first half of 2025. The firm’s strong reputation in China bore fruit when Lepu Medical Technology instructed the patent team for an occlusion device case, and Sichuan Yuanxing Rubber retained it for proceedings against Pirelli concerning motorcycle tyres.

The team had already conducted its largest UPC proceedings to date for Centripetal Networks and Arthex in national courts. Noerr’s regular client Lidl also engaged the team to defend a UPC lawsuit brought by Decathlon regarding pop-up tents.

UPC litigation now accounts for about half of the team’s work. This strong growth in UPC proceedings necessitated expansion at partner level. The first step has been taken with the appointment of a second salary partner after the increasingly prominent Armin Kühne.

Strengths

Mobile communications litigation for implementers including SEP and FRAND issues. Licence agreements.

Recommended individuals

Armin Kühne, Ralph Nack (“grasps complex technical matters quickly and has good instincts”, competitor)

Team

8 lawyers

Clients

Litigation: AIM Sport Vision against Supponor and SportFive over ad overlays in TV broadcasts; Cambridge Mobile Telematics against Appy over technology for monitoring driver behaviour; Centripetal Networks against Cisco, Palo Alto Networks and Keysight over network security solutions; HBCU Messaging against Apple over massaging and iMasage technology; Honor against VoiceAge over speech cooding technology (settled 2024); TCL against NEC and Access Advanced patent pool over SEPs (settled 2025); Xiaomi against Crystal Clear Codec over SEP (settled 2024); Fluke against Testo over automatic image processing and pattern recognition (ended 2025); Quanxing against Pump Technology Solutions over car parts. Advice: Purem Pharma regarding FTO analysis.