JUVE Comment

The IP practice of this international full-service law firm continues to be very visible in litigation for innovator pharmaceutical clients such as Regeneron and Halozyme Therapeutics. In addition to this, Pauline Debré’s team has boosted its market visibility in suits involving telecoms patents, thanks to litigation for Intel and Seoul Semiconductor in some extremely high-profile proceedings of recent years. At the same time, the practice is constantly widening its client base in other sectors, including automotive and mobility, as well as expanding its visibility among Asian clients to include Korea alongside China.

The practice is also working successfully on team development, appointing Jean-François Merdrignac to counsel. He is very active in cross-border work.

Strengths

Pharma litigation, transactional work on IP.

European set-up

With joint pan-European litigation for regular client Seoul Semiconductor, Linklaters demonstrates its well-oiled cross-border teamwork, especially between the French and German offices. This is now proving an advantage at the UPC, where subsidiary Seoul Viosys is taking action against competitors and its sales partners with the help of Linklaters lawyers from France and Germany, before both the Paris and Düsseldorf local divisions. The French and German offices mostly work in cooperation with London in the healthcare sector for originator companies like Sanofi and GSK.

The growing importance of the Paris team in international work is also shown by the fact that it plays a cross-border, interdisciplinary coordinating role more and more often for new clients. A good example is the work for a major new client in the mobility sector, where it leads the strategy across the firm’s European network as well as working closely with the firm’s US office and antitrust and arbitration lawyers from Paris.

But the team cannot yet compete with the consistent cross-border cooperation seen at similar competitors like Bird & Bird and Allen & Overy, if for no other reason than the fact that, like Pinsent Masons, not all Linklaters offices enjoy equal visibility in their respective markets. The London office in particular is not making anywhere near the headway of the practices in Paris and Frankfurt. This could all change now that Katie Coltart has joined Linklaters’ UK office from Kirkland & Ellis. She brings along experience in suits over telecoms patents, an area in which the London team lacked visibility before now. This could be the firm’s chance to offer tech clients like Seoul Semiconductor, which previously relied on the London team of Herbert Smith Freehills, a port of call in the UK.

Recommended individuals

Pauline Debré (“good cooperation”, client; “very good in licensing matters”, competitor)

Team

7 lawyers, 1 dual qualified

Specialties

Cross-border patent litigation, historically with a strong focus on life sciences. Litigation for originator drug manufacturers in pharmaceutical cases.

Clients

Litigation: Seoul Semiconductor (claimant) against GE Healthcare regarding LEDs in medical devices (settled 2023); Seoul Semiconductor (claimant) against competitors regarding optoelectronics including LEDs; Lantiq/Intel (defendant) against Intellectual Ventures over SEPs for DSL; Sanofi/Regeneron (defendants) against Amgen over cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha. INPI oppositions: Halozyme Therapeutics (claimant) against INPI over SEP application for Rituximab. UPC: Seoul Viosys (claimant) against Laser Components over ultraviolet-light-emitting device (all public knowledge). Frequent advice to GSK.