JUVE Comment

International companies entrust this small but exceptionally experienced litigation team with the French components of their international cases. Benjamin May’s team advised Fresenius Medical Care in a lawsuit with some of the highest economic stakes of the year against Nipro Medical – a case that many international firms would like to have on their reference list. The proceedings are running in Belgium and Germany simultaneously, conducted in part by international firms. In this, as in numerous other pan-European cases, Aramis benefits from the fact that many international firms still do not have teams of their own in Paris.

Frequent litigation in a large number of international cases is what sets Aramis apart from traditional French litigation boutiques, such as Armengaud & Guerlain. But at the same time the team is much smaller than competitor Gide, which limits its options for widening the client base. This development is based mainly on the firm’s experience in cases spanning a broad technical spectrum and for clients of various sizes, such as Lanaform in materials technology and Enyx in software.

Strengths

Litigation for life sciences clients.

European set-up

Aramis has many years of experience in pan-European litigation, with one example the Belmoca case. Here, the firm was an integral part of the company’s litigation strategy and defended it alongside Stibbe (for Belgium), Brinkhof (for the Netherlands) and Gevers (for the EPO). Litigation for Zentiva in the Mylan/Viatris suit against Eli Lilly over pemetrexed highlights how the team often plays a role in high-stakes pan-European cases.

It is too soon to say whether this will translate into companies choosing the experienced patent practice for many of their UPC cases. But the first suits indicate that companies from a wide range of sectors and technological fields will bring their actions before the new court – a fact in Aramis’ favour, as the firm’s experience spans an equally wide array of fields.

Recommended individuals

Benjamin May (“present and dynamic”, “has landed young talent for his team”, competitors)

Team

4 lawyers

Specialties

Strong focus on litigation in patents. Some transactions and cross-border licensing agreements.

Clients

Litigation: Fresenius Medical Care (claimant) against Nipro Medical over dialysers; Allergan (defendant) against Laboratoires Vivacy in anti-suit injunction over injectable aesthetic gels (settled in 2023); Zentiva (co-defendant) in Viatris against Eli Lilly over cancer drug pemetrexed (on the merits); Arcadophta & BVI (claimant) against Alchimia and Ophta on ophthalmic surgery, Belmoca (defendant) against Jacobs Douwe Egberts over coffee capsules, including seizure; Lanaform (defendant) against Skin’Up over textile material; Angus International (claimant) against Bio Ex over fire-retardant foam for aeroplanes; Enyx (defendant) against Novasparks over software; INRIA on inventor’s rights case; regular litigation for BVI Medical on ophthalmology.