JUVE Comment

The French team of this large European mixed firm is most visible in Paris for its litigation for NPE Intellectual Ventures in the SEP case against Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Orange. Another extensive hearing is scheduled for 2024 in this case, though the ranks of co-defendants, primarily mobile communications companies, have thinned out in the past year due to settlements. The firm has also worked for NPE IPcom in the past, but this dispute has now been settled. Although by far most of the French team’s experience lies on the NPE side, actions by these companies have decreased across Europe, and Paris in particular has never been one of the main litigation venues for these suits. This means that the team around frontman Julien Fréneaux will need to apply its experience in these telecoms cases, which are extensive for the French market, to new work in the future. Above all clients in related fields of technology could benefit.

The client portfolio of the firm, which is a market leader in Germany, harbours a great deal more potential for practice expansion. The team has only tackled this to a minor extent in recent years. However, it is in an increasingly good position to do so, as it has seen the most growth among all other international firms in Paris of a similar size and brought on board another extremely experienced partner in Frédéric Portal. His experience working alongside Yves Bizollon at Bird & Bird opens up good opportunities for the team, as he is at home both in life sciences and pan-European cases. This could be the firm’s chance to close the huge gap that exists between the French practice and the other offices in terms of market perception, which, against the backdrop of the UPC, is a key factor when it comes to offering clients a more consistent set-up.

Strengths

Experienced patent litigation for NPEs.

European set-up

Bardehle’s Paris team is mainly known for its litigation on the NPE side, while the German team enjoys an excellent name in a multitude of technological fields, above all life sciences. The most recent partner arrival could help the firm to integrate national work more effectively in this area.

The high-profile litigation for NPE IV contrasts with the German team’s litigation on behalf of implementers such as Xiaomi and Oppo and US tech companies like Apple, Cisco, Microsoft and Qualcomm. The firm could harness potential in both fields if it were to bring them closer together – a move that could be particularly worthwhile in terms of positioning for UPC cases. After all, the German litigation team has been very visible in suits before the new court from day one.

Recommended individuals

Julien Fréneaux

Team

4 lawyers, 1 patent attorney, 2 dual qualified

Partner moves

Frédéric Portal (from Bird & Bird)

Specialties

Mixed patent practice with a focus on telecommunications and technology.

Clients

Litigation: Intellectual Ventures (claimant) against Bouygues Telecom, SFR, Orange over SEP for DSL. Prosecution: patent filing for Cardia, Peptinov SAS, Parrot Drones, University of Florida (all public knowledge).