JUVE Comment

This European IP firm is one of France’s market leaders and boasts the largest number of partners renowned in patent litigation. Clients entrust the team with their most important cases in all technical fields. Examples include Lenovo and Orange against Intellectual Ventures, Philips against TCL and Conversant Wireless against LG. The firm is also very strongly positioned in pharma proceedings, for instance litigating in high-stakes proceedings for Gilead, AstraZeneca, Ceva Santé Animale and Sanofi. In addition, the team is involved in a larger number of judgments from French courts compared to competitors. As a result, the firm is seen as having made impressive strides in recent years and having established itself at the top of the market. Earlier than many competitors in similar boutiques, the previously small but well-renowned team around the highly experienced Denis Monégier du Sorbier made the strategically astute move towards more international presence: in 2015 it joined forces with the well-positioned mixed firm Hoyng in the Netherlands and the German market-leaders Reimann Osterrieth Köhler Haft. Although not fully integrated financially, this new European leader has proven in a short space of time that clients trust it for pan-European proceedings and achieve success in crucial cases for them. With the strong patent litigation team around Sabine Agé and Amandine Métier, coming from Véron in 2018, the French team has positioned itself on a par with the German and Dutch offices to handle the big cases. Agé, for example, no doubt one of the most highly renowned, up-and-coming lawyers in France, conducted the high-profile suit for Philips, a long-time client of the Dutch office.

Strengths

Cross-border litigation over pharma, electronics and telecom patents.

European strategy

This IP firm has gained a toehold at the top of the French and Dutch markets in recent years. Hoyng ROKH Monégier Véron has established a broad geographical position in Europe through an intelligent merger strategy, and it did this earlier and to a greater extent than other patent litigation firms. The German team, which comprises just as many lawyers as the French team but no patent attorneys, has long been a mainstay at the top of the market. In addition, the firm has small offices in Brussels and Madrid. So far, Hoyng ROKH Monégier Véron has shown no interest in London, which is an important location for pharmaceutical cases. But the circumstances have deteriorated for British firms as a result of Brexit and now they are seeking new cooperation partners on the continent. At the same time, the firm is driving cross-border cooperation among the individual offices and is increasingly using multi-national teams, most recently in the parallel litigation for Philips.

Recommended individuals

Denis Monégier du Sorbier (“a gentleman, you learn something new every time he is your opponent in court”, competitor), Sabine Agé (“great quality”, client; “up-and-coming litigator”, competitor), Amandine Métier, Benoît Strowel

Team

7 partners, 1 counsel, 12 associates, of whom 2 are patent attorneys

Specialties

Pan-European IP boutique focusing on patent infringement, proceedings and nullity suits. Also licences, R&D cooperations and transactions. Trademarks and unfair competition.

Clients

Litigation: Lenovo and Orange (both defendants) against Intellectual Ventures over SEPs; Philips (claimant) against TCL over SEPs; Conversant Wireless (claimant) against LG Electronics over mobile communications; Gilead (defendant) against Teva over SPC for Truvada; AstraZeneca (claimant) against Ratiopharm over fulvestrant; Ceva Santé Animale (defendant) against Bayer over an animal health drug; Zimmer Biomet (defendant) against Heraeus over bone cement; Sanofi (defendant) against Amgen over Praluent; Volvo Trucks (claimant) against Scania over fuel-saving technologies; Umicore (claimant) against Nanomakers over lithium batteries.