JUVE Comment

The renowned patent practice of this national full-service firm enjoys an exceptional reputation for litigating pharma cases. Long-standing clients including Sanofi, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ono Pharmaceutical frequently entrust the team with disputes concerning high-volume blockbusters. Gide Loyrette Nouel also wins over new clients time and again with its profound expertise on SPCs, with Boehringer Ingelheim among them. Besides pharma, the patent practice is active in other life sciences such as cosmetics and food.

Despite experience working for WSOU, the firm has yet to land further clients from the telecoms or IT sectors, where competitors Allen & Overy and Bird & Bird have the edge.

In contrast, clients from medical devices and mechanical engineering ensure a steady stream of litigation work. This could impact on work at the UPC going forward, as companies from these two sectors have been the most active claimants before the new court so far. Gide Loyrette Nouel is well-equipped for the demands of the UPC, boasting one of the largest teams in the French market.

Strengths

Litigation for drug manufacturers in pharmaceutical cases.

European set-up

Clients are already entrusting the firm with UPC cases, as shown by litigation for Meril against Edwards Lifesciences in one of the first oral hearings before the central division in Paris. The firm teamed up with patent attorney firm Regimbeau in spring 2023 under the name Gide x Regimbeau and put this alliance to good use in this case. Under this umbrella, the partners combine the legal expertise of Gide’s lawyers in patent litigation with the technical know-how of Regimbeau’s patent attorneys.

The two firms thus took what was already close cooperation in national proceedings – for Bristol-Myers Squibb, for instance – to a new level and widened it to include the UPC. But Gide x Regimbeau does not go as far as EIP Amar, Vossius-Brinkhof or Santarelli, who count on cross-border partners in their UPC alliances, instead opting to follow the mixed model of Casalonga, but forgoing a full integration of the two outfits. Clients benefit nevertheless in both French and UPC lawsuits from the team’s strong headcount and mixed approach, as well as from the many years of experience that the Gide Loyrette Nouel litigators have built up in the French components of cross-border cases for such notable clients as Sanofi and ResMed. This makes Gide Loyrette Nouel interesting to clients that do not wish to hire an internationally integrated large firm for the UPC but are searching for a litigator team with pan-European experience.

Recommended individuals

Jean-Hyacinthe de Mitry (“very calm, engaged and experienced”, competitor), Raphaëlle Dequiré-Portier, Emmanuel Larere (“increasingly visible in patent litigation”, competitor about both)

Team

15 lawyers

Specialties

Strong focus on patent litigation, especially pharma, biotech and life sciences. Strategic advice on trade secrets, including seizures (saisie-contrefaçon).

Clients

Litigation: Meril (defendant) against Edwards Lifesciences over heart valves (also nullity action at the UPC); Bristol-Myers Squibb (defendant) against Teva in revocation action over SPC; Celltrion (claimant) against Biogen, Genentech and Hoffmann-La Roche over cancer drug; Sanofi-Aventis (claimant) against Mylan over pen syringe for injecting a biosimilar of Lantus; Sisley (defendant) against Symrise over combination of molecules; ResMed (claimant) against Panthera over sleep and respiratory technologies; Seratec (claimant) against Orphalan over treatment of Wilson’s disease; Boehringer Ingelheim (claimant) against INPI over SPC; Ono Pharmaceutical (claimant) against INPI on SPCs for immunotherapy treatments; Thomson Licensing (defendant) against Lenovo over trade secrets regarding licences for patents assigned to InterDigital; WSOU (claimant) against ZTE over mobile communications. Advice: Genmab on SPCs.