JUVE Comment

In addition to its busy filing practice, this Munich patent attorney firm has developed into a major player in litigation in only a few years. The team is regularly seen at the side of law firms in infringement proceedings, as well as alone in nullity and opposition proceedings. One focus is on mechanical engineering and electronics – often at the interface with IT and mobile communications. Well-known companies such as ZTE and Klarna Bank are among the regular clients here.

WBH has gained a good reputation for advising and litigating for medical technology companies, which has attracted new clients such as Shockwave. These also benefit from the team’s regulatory expertise.

WBH takes a successful all-round approach when it comes to strategic advice on building portfolios, encompassing FTO analyses and licensing advice as well as IP due diligence in deals. This helped the firm to deepen its work for clients from Asia and the US, including Crown Equipment and Procept Biorobotics.

Recently, the team grew significantly, and the appointment of a further partner underlined how successfully WBH is building up its own young talent.

European set-up

Thanks to the recent growth, the patent attorney firm has now reached a size with which it can handle UPC cases. Combined with its extensive litigation experience, WBH is well positioned for the new court. For example, the team can be seen alongside the lawyers from Kather Augenstein in UPC proceedings for Ona Patents against Google and Apple, where the patent attorneys are mainly active in the nullity counterclaim. Furthermore, it maintains close contacts to clients in the US and Asia, as well as clients in the medical devices sector, and these could also be a good source of work for the UPC as they are showing great interest in the new court.

Strengths

Litigation over electronics, mobile communications and medical device patents.

Recommended individuals

Thorsten Haslinde (“has made a name for himself in medtech”, “level-headed and delivers his points clearly”, “well-versed in technical matters, razor-sharp analysis, precise to a fault”, competitors), Marc Wachenhausen (“astounding knowledge of state-of-the-art”, competitor about both; both patent attorneys)

Team

10 patent attorneys

Clients

Litigation: Invacare against Sunrise Medical over wheelchairs; Ferdinand Peer against Comuto over navigation technology; MB Digitalprint against Schneider over sealing technology; Optical Imaging against Zeiss over imaging technology for ophthalmology. Opposition for Shockwave against Abbott over catheter system; International Edge against Blue Gentian over extendible pipe; Neovasc against Boston Scientific, Cook Medical, Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic and other opponents over heart valves.