JUVE Comment

By building up the team around up-and-coming partner Stanislas Roux-Vaillard the firm has taken a crucial step towards adequately representing its major international client base at French courts as well. HL has thus become a challenger to the market leaders. The team works closely with German, Dutch and British colleagues, who are among the top players in their countries. The work of the French practice has earned it a strong reputation in recent years. Litigation for regular clients Eli Lilly and HTC were among the recent highlights. Hogan Lovells has recently managed to do what competitors in other firms headquartered in London, such as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, have failed to do: it brought on board an up-and-coming, highly qualified patent litigator in the shape ofRoux-Vaillard and successfully integrated him into the team. Although the work acquired by the French team itself is negligible, the flourishing cross-border connections to clients in the German, Dutch and UK practices offer room for organic growth in the small French team. This team must continue along its path steadily to catch up to those at the top of the market and then match up to the other offices: an ambitious but manageable task.

Strengths

Integrated cross-border patent litigation for France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

European strategy

The practice has developed immensely in recent years, driven by pan-European proceedings in which the German, Dutch and UK practices integrated the Paris office into the team. The Düsseldorf, Amsterdam, London axis is homogeneous, which is reflected time and again in the impressive international presence in important pharmaceutical, mobile phone and electronics cases. HL’s patent team is a pan-European leader. It has one of the few patent teams that truly works cross-border.

Recommended individuals

Stanislas Roux-Vaillard (“rising star”, “efficient and high skills”, competitors)

Team

1 partner, 5 associates

Specialties

Strong in both pharmaceutical and telecommunication disputes for industry clients. Large, international client base and strong pan-European team. Very active in cross-border litigation.

Clients

Litigation: Eli Lilly (defendant) against Fresenius Kabi over Alimta over pemetrexed; HTC (defendant) against Philips over UMTS patents; Hollister (defendant) against Coloplast over medical device; Dainese (defendant) against Alpinestars over motorcycle vests.