JUVE Comment

Lavoix is one of the large mixed teams in France, making it well-positioned for all-round work in patent disputes before the French courts and EPO. Litigators and patent attorneys often advise international core clients on a broad spectrum of technologies. With this mixed approach, the firm has taken the same path as Casalonga, but has yet to achieve the same profound synergies between the two professional groups.

In patent filing, Lavoix is among the top names in France, alongside Plasseraud, Regimbeau and Santarelli. The patent attorneys count such heavyweights as Alstom, Sanofi, Thales and Total among loyal clients. In patent litigation before the French courts, on the other hand, work for SMEs predominates. Naval Group is one of the clients which counts on the team for prosecution as well as litigation. But there is still huge potential for the litigators to tap into when it comes to the major corporations that entrust Lavoix with their prosecution work.

Although Lavoix handles a similarly large number of litigation cases as Duclos Thorne Mollet-Viéville or Allen & Overy, the proportion of high-profile cases is lower. Therefore, it does not yet enjoy the visibility of its competitors in litigation. The close contacts among national research institutes and universities offer further potential to appeal to larger clients in the life sciences sector.

Strengths

Mixed team with strong prosecution practice.

European strategy

The mixed French firm has small offices in Germany, Italy and Luxembourg with only patent attorneys. The German team has also recently seen growth.

Recommended individuals

Bertrand Domenego (“precise and quick,” “excellent,” competitors), Jacob Klinkisch (“very experienced internationally in oppositions and disputes,” competitor), Camille Pecnard

Team

3 partners, 2 associates, 44 patent attorneys

Specialties

All-round advice and litigation in all IP matters. Large prosecution practice in all technical fields.

Clients

Litigation: Estée Lauder (defendant) against former subcontractor over ownership of cosmetics/biology patents; Emitec France/Continental (defendant) against Plastic Omnium over diesel tank; Locatelli (claimant) against Shark over motorcycle helmets; Wireless Seismic (defendant) against Sercel over data systems (settled); Peaccel/Université de Nantes (claimant) against Codexis over tool for calculating protein sequences. Frequent advice for Naval Group. Prosecution: Patent filing and oppositions for Alstom, Aperam, Arcelormittal, CEA, Dassault Aviation, Faurecia, Naval Group, Sanofi, Schneider Electric, Somfy, Thales, Total, Technip France. Patent filing for CNRS, Framatome, L’Oréal (all public knowledge).