Litigation: Lawyers – France 2024

JUVE Comment

The French patent litigation practice of this international firm stands out for its highly respected team of partners boasting a wealth of experience in complex pan-European litigation. Laëtitia Bénard is one of the foremost litigators in France for life sciences. She represents innovative pharma companies Novartis, Bayer and MSD when they need to defend their blockbusters from generic drugs entering the market. For MSD she won an important confirmation of a PI at the Court of Appeal at the beginning of the year. This caused a stir in the marke...

JUVE Comment

The French team led by Anne-Charlotte Le Bihan at this international, IP-driven firm has made great strides towards the top of the market over the past year. While many competitors had a quieter year, the team was hired by a multitude of new clients from a range of sectors, with Keboda, Adalvo and Zodiac among them. At the same time, many of the long-running, pan-European cases for regular clients like Edwards Lifesciences, Microsoft, Nespresso and Allergan/AbbVie are still running at top speed. These examples illustrate how clients from all fi...

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.

JUVE Comment

Hogan Lovells’ French practice enjoys a superb reputation when it comes to litigating for the overall firm’s core clients in the French part of pan-European cases. The team frequently makes the market sit up and take notice with its skilful and pragmatic litigation style and, despite its relatively small team, positions itself on an equal level with its partners in other jurisdictions.

JUVE Comment

This French IP boutique is known in the market for the well-rehearsed teamwork between its lawyers and patent attorneys. It enjoys an excellent reputation for litigation before the French courts and in EPO oppositions, as well as for its vast prosecution experience. The client list in chemicals and life sciences is particularly impressive. Regular client Total Energies, for instance, ramped up collaboration and is entrusting the team all-round in filing, prosecution and numerous EPO oppositions. For regular client L'Oréal, the firm enjoyed a wi...

Other Rankings

• Patent Filing

JUVE Comment

This national full-service firm operates a patent litigation practice that has regularly attracted clients with high-profile cases for years. 2023 was no different for the team led by the renowned Thomas Cuche. For many of these new clients, the practice successfully reached agreements with competitors without bringing legal action, to the clients’ satisfaction. This work in the background has replaced extensive litigation cases like that for Gilead.

JUVE Comment

The French team of this international firm has an excellent name thanks to the strong reputation of litigation expert Thomas Bouvet. The team operates across a wide technical spectrum, mastering litigation in partnership with the German patent attorneys even without technical experts of their own. The practice welcomes a steady stream of new clients, most recently Belgian e-bike manufacturer Cowboy.

JUVE Comment

With an unusually strong presence for its size in life sciences patent litigation the French IP boutique is going from strength to strength. In just a few years, the team led by name partner Denis Schertenleib has grown into a powerhouse for high-profile pharma cases on the side of generic drug companies. With their vast experience, the litigators are called on by Viatris, Sandoz and Zentiva for numerous suits against originators and have won over additional generics companies, such as Neuraxpharm and Polpharma. The team often brings its regula...

JUVE Comment

Dentons’ French team is known for representing notable clients from the telecoms and medtech sectors as well as national research institutes concerning electronic patents. The team litigated for Apple in a dispute over its operating system – one of few telecoms lawsuits currently running in France. This should not overshadow the fact, however, that background advice is an important element of activity in this sector.

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 exp...

JUVE Comment

This IP boutique enjoys a strong name in patent litigation spanning a broad technical spectrum. Its mixed approach leads to activity in both national infringement and nullity suits and in EPO oppositions. Midsized European companies like Normalu and Cayago ensure a steady flow of litigation work. The representation of mobile service provider SFR and pharma company ViiV also put the team on the map for proceedings in the very litigious sectors telecommunications and life sciences. This has drawn the attention of other companies from related sect...

JUVE Comment

The French IP team of this British full-service firm is continuing its growth trajectory. Traditionally strong in litigation for life sciences clients, the team stepped up work for Accord and Zentiva, as well as landing new clients including Fresenius Kabi. This demonstrates how the European practice’s visibility is translating into new clients for the national practices. Jules Fabre has made a name for himself in litigation for generic drug and biosimilar manufacturers over blockbuster drugs. He joined the firm five years ago from an in-house ...

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 th...

JUVE Comment

This small IP boutique led by the experienced, well-respected Emmanuel de Marcellus is known for its frequent litigation activity for small companies against market leaders or industry giants. This makes the practice a popular choice for clients who feel insufficiently seen by large firms or who rarely conduct litigation. One prime example is the litigation for inventor Ferid Allani as claimant against industry heavyweights Google and Apple in a suit involving the two companies’ mobile phone operating systems.

JUVE Comment

Lavoix is one of the top three mixed patent firms with a strong prosecution practice. The patent attorneys are internationally renowned for their exceptional practice in EPO oppositions. Such impressive names as Alstom, Dassault Aviation, Faurecia, Framatome and Naval Group from a variety of technical sectors as well as electronics companies trust in the firm.

Other Rankings

• Patent Filing

JUVE Comment

The mixed team of this international full-service firm frequently represents US companies in the French component of their patent disputes. Practice head Marianne Schaffner litigated, for example, for Assia in a battle with Nokia and Orange over DSL technology.

JUVE Comment

This national IP boutique operates a busy patent litigation practice spanning a broad range of industries and bolstered this further with a partner hire. The firm traditionally has a specialty in life sciences, where such pharma heavyweights as Hoffmann-La Roche feature on the client list. Alongside these, midsized clients from the mechanical engineering, consumer goods and medical devices sectors deliver a steady stream of litigation work. This is rooted in the team’s traditionally excellent contacts among midsized companies as well as law fir...