JUVE Comment

The well-positioned patent litigation team of this international full-service firm attracts far less attention in the French market than similar international outfits like Hogan Lovells or Allen & Overy. After the departure of its probably best-known patent litigator, Marianne Schaffner in 2018, the firm’s visibility has decreased. It is well known in the market that Dentons works for prominent clients such as Apple in high-profile patent litigation before the French courts, but the firm is as a whole still not particularly prominent in France. While international work is mostly based on referrals from the Dentons network, the Paris IP team also advises renowned French clients, including institutes such as CNRS and INSERM, e.g. in a dispute over employee invention rights. For technical advice the Paris office can call on the patent attorneys from the UK office.

Strengths

Integrated patent litigation in Europe and the US.

European strategy

Dentons is not yet one of the heavyweights in the European patent market, but has recently made efforts to strengthen its patent team with lateral hires in Amsterdam. It has well-positioned teams in London, Amsterdam and Milan. In Germany the firm has offices in Düsseldorf and Munich but no visible patent team.

Team

1 partner, 1 counsel, 5 associates

Specialties

Litigation in patents, especially telecommunications. Also advice on inventor’s rights and co-ownership of patents.

Clients

Litigation: CNRS and Inserm (co-defendant) against Dr. Marc Bransten over diagnosis of infectious diseases; Toy manufacturer (defendant) against French competitor over robot toy; French medical device company (defendant) against competitor over retinal surgery device; Italian paper manufacturer (defendant) against French branch of Swedish paper producer over absorbent paper. Frequent advice to Apple (public knowledge).