JUVE Comment

The five partners at this Vienna boutique have emerged as strong challengers to the market leaders. Competitors emphasise the team’s excellent visibility in IP litigation. One recent highlight was litigation for Red Bull against Bullsone, which led to a substantial expansion of trademark rights and an EU-wide injunction. A further example is the litigation for Russian optics producer Krasnogorsky Zavod against Lomographische AG concerning the enforcement of an arbitrator’s award and in a counterclaim under fair trading law. Partner Juliane Messner recently gained an international profile as chair of the arbitration panel in Milan in an international trademark infringement case involving an Italian luxury fashion label. The firm scored a win for itself with an Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) ruling that allowed it to register its invented name Geistwert as a law firm in the commercial register.

In patents, partners Constantin Kletzer and Rainer Schultes have carved out an outstanding reputation for their litigation work. The firm plays in the top league when it comes to pharma suits, with litigation for Genentech and Hoffmann-La Roche against Sandoz in an international dispute over cancer drug Rituximab. The team is also active in several SPC proceedings. It has recently been involved in major international cases thanks to good contacts among leading patent teams in Germany and the UK but is not part of a formal network. Max Mosing has a strong name for copyright law.

Since its launch, the partner-centric approach and close cooperation between the partners have been the firm’s hallmarks. Whether this concept will be sustainable in the long term or the dynamic growth up to now will slow down remains to be seen. Geistwert has so far been using the time that other firms invest in the promotion of young talent to develop IT solutions for its clients.

Strengths

Consistent focus on IP issues with partner-centric approach; infringement litigation concerning pharma patents.

Recommended individuals

Constantin Kletzer (“the first choice for copyright law”, competitor), Rainer Schultes

Team

5 partners

Specialties

Extensive advice on trademarks, design and unfair competition law. Focus on patent infringement litigation in the pharma and mechanical engineering sectors. Advice to the automotive sector.

Clients

Litigation: ATK (defendant) against Salewa over touring ski bindings; Genentech and Hoffmann-La Roche (claimant) against Sandoz over cancer drug Rituximab (public knowledge); pharma company in SPC proceedings; Teletan (claimant) against Six Payment Services and Mastercard over authentication procedure for online banking.