JUVE Comment

This well-positioned patent team is making a charge on the French market with major SEP suits. Julien Fréneaux is omnipresent in SEP proceedings with his litigation for NPEs Intellectual Ventures and IPCom. The suit for Intellectual Ventures is still among the largest ongoing SEP and FRAND cases in France. The firm is also representing IPCom on legally important SEP issues in France.

But reducing Bardehle Pagenberg’s Paris practice to litigation for NPEs would be too simplistic. On the contrary, it currently represents German auto supplier Robert Bosch at the second-instance court against NPE Papst Licensing over diesel injectors. This is a good example of the industrial clients which also trust the French office, often through close internal cooperation with the preeminent German team.

Bardehle Pagenberg also took advantage of the legislative changes in the French professional regulations to operate with a mixed team in France, just as it does in Germany. The firm has been a mixed outfit in Germany since the 1970s. Now, Bardehle Pagenberg added its first patent attorney to the partnership in Paris. She is a specialist in computer technology, which fits in well with the practice’s core client base.

Solidifying the mixed approach in Paris brings the two national teams closer together strategically. The next step for the Paris office should be building up patent attorney expertise in the pharma sector. This sector has always been underrepresented at Bardehle. But the firm has recently made some new client contacts in the pharma sector and the German team is also widening its visibility, for instance with its litigation for Amgen.

Strengths

Experienced in pan-European patent litigation for NPEs.

European strategy

Bardehle is on the way to becoming a top European firm. It has a mixed litigation approach, internationally-oriented lawyers and offices at the key UPC venues in Düsseldorf, Paris and Munich, and a small Italian office in Verona. The German and French practices are moving closer together with the strengthening of the mixed approach and the joint acquisition of clients. If the UPC launches, and especially without the UK, an office in Amsterdam would be worth considering due to the firm’s focus on mobile communications.

Recommended individuals

Julien Fréneaux

Team

3 partners, of whom 1 is a patent attorney, 2 associates

Specialties

Mixed firm with a focus on telecommunications and technology.

Clients

Litigation: Intellectual Ventures (claimant) against Bouygues Telecom, SFR, Orange and suppliers such as Huawei over SEP and FRAND issues; IPCom (claimant) against Lenovo on anti-anti-suit injunction (Court of Appeal); Robert Bosch against Papst Licensing on diesel injectors (Court of Appeal, public knowledge).