JUVE Comment

Rospatt maintains its position as a market leader through a consistently high volume of economically and legally significant national infringement proceedings. The German IP litigation boutique operates at the highest level in pharmaceutical and biotech disputes. This is evidenced not only by its ongoing representation of Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Biotech in litigation concerning the Stelara biosimilar, but also by continued instructions from Biogen for blockbuster drugs including multiple sclerosis treatment Tecfidera and Humira successor Imraldi. Thomas Musmann and Max von Rospatt are particularly well-regarded for representing originators.

The electronics and mobile communications team, led by Hetti Hilge and Henrik Timmann, continues to demonstrate its reliability through renewed instructions from Samsung to defend against NPE claims from Fingon, and through its work on active litigation against ZTE – currently perhaps Europe’s largest SEP dispute.

Regular client LG continues to generate substantial advisory work. However, Rospatt’s true strength lies in its deep connections within the Düsseldorf court system and strong relationships with numerous patent attorney firms, ensuring a steady flow of instructions across a broad technical spectrum. Many current proceedings, including those for XSYS concerning printing technology, Igus regarding power line protection technology, and the Samsung versus ZTE dispute, are being conducted simultaneously before national patent courts and the UPC.

European set-up

As an independent IP litigation boutique and leading national player in Germany, the Düsseldorf IP litigation firm has established a solid presence at the UPC. In the court’s early days, it primarily represented medium-sized companies at the local divisions in Düsseldorf and Munich. Rospatt’s experienced litigators operated across a broad but traditional technical spectrum on the defence side, representing clients such as XSYS in printing technology matters, Knaus Tabbert in caravan disputes, and ILME in electronic connector cases. The firm recently filed proceedings for Leap Tools concerning simulation AI for furnishings.

However, almost two years passed before the firm became active in its traditional stronghold of electronics and mobile communications at the UPC. Many competitors had expected Rospatt to secure UPC instructions in this sector much earlier. The breakthrough came in early 2025 with the major dispute between Samsung and ZTE over a global SEP portfolio licence, with Rospatt handling active infringement claims against the Chinese competitor.

Initially, Rospatt adopted a more cautious approach to the UPC compared to similarly structured competitors such as Kather Augenstein and Bardehle Pagenberg, which established strong presences in electronics and mobile communications cases from the outset. Rospatt is now steadily closing this gap. If its high-profile pharmaceutical originator clients begin to utilise the UPC more frequently for litigation against generics or biosimilar manufacturers, Rospatt could gain significant ground over these two competitors.

Strengths

Strong in litigation concerning pharmaceuticals and mobile communications patents, strong international contacts.

Recommended individuals

Hetti Hilge (“top expert”, competitor), Markus Lenßen, (“up-and-coming litigator”, competitor) Thomas Musmann, Rüdiger Pansch, Max von Rospatt (“very good in pharma and biotech cases”, competitor), André Sabellek (“highly competent and confident in the courtroom”, competitor), Henrik Timmann

Team

17 lawyers

Clients

Litigation: Samsung against ZTE over mobile communications and FRAND; Samsung against Fingon over security features in mobile communications devices; LG Display against Tianma and Xiaomi over displays for handsets; Biogen against various generics over multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera; Biogen/Samsung Bioepis against Fresenius Kabi over Humira biosimilar for the treatment of rheumatic desease adalimumab/Imraldi; Janssen Biotech (Johnson & Johnson) against Formycon over SPC for Stelara biosimilar (ended 2024); Arcelor Mittal against TATA Steel over surface properties; CATL against MU Ionic over e-batteries for electric cars (settled 2025); XSYS against Esko regarding method of curing photo-curable printing plates; YG-1 against Taegutec over inserts for milling tools; Igus against Tsubaki Kabelschlepp over protection technology for power lines (some public knowledge).