JUVE Comment

The practice around dual-qualified partners Grégoire Desrousseaux and François Pochart maintains its strong foothold at the top of the French market. The well-established teamwork between its patent attorneys and lawyers, many of them dual-qualified, remains the basis of its market-leading position in litigation before French courts and the UPC, as well as in oppositions at the EPO and the INPI. Trusted by clients of all sizes, sectors and origins, the practice is often seen in the French parts of extensive pan-European litigation.

This is especially marked in life sciences, where Pochart’s extensive expertise comes into play in a plethora of high-profile cross-border proceedings for long-standing client Teva concerning blockbusters like Tecfidera, Inegy and apixaban (Eliquis). His vast experience in the field recently attracted new clients such as Metex Nøøvistago and SGD Pharma. Meanwhile Desrousseaux remains practically unrivalled in litigation across a multitude of technical fields, representing clients like Hanshow, Insulet and Valeo in major disputes. His team also secured a major win for Nipro against Fresenius and attracted new clients such as Resolve Stroke. Young partner Lionel Martin continues to build his profile with high-stakes litigation, including for Centripetal and in significant UPC cases, such as for ICPillar or Valeo.

August Debouzy has been one of the more successful teams among the traditional French outfits in transferring its strong national position to the UPC. This is best shown by its work for Abbott against Dexcom, Michelin against Goodyear, and for Ona Patents alongside lead counsel Kather Augenstein. But at the UPC, even August Debouzy faces tough competition from German and international IP teams. While the team represents clients such as Insulet, Hanshow and Centripetal in French proceedings, German teams often take the lead in parallel UPC actions. However, with its extensive experience in all types of litigation and its large team, August Debouzy is well equipped to compete with these firms, as new instructions for the UPC demonstrate. The firm has demonstrated its commitment here through the recent expansion of its patent practice with new patent attorneys and the appointment of a new counsel after losing dual-qualified counsel Abdelaziz Khatab, who was already well known in the market, to an international law firm in 2024.

Strengths

Litigation before the French courts, UPC as well as oppositions at the EPO and the INPI. In-depth telecoms, electronics and pharma expertise.

Recommended individuals

Grégoire Desrousseaux (“phenomenal”, “highly experienced”, competitors), François Pochart (“technically outstanding patent litigator in life sciences”, competitor), Lionel Martin (“meticulous and persistent”, competitor)

Team

7 lawyers, 4 patent attorneys, 6 dual qualified

Clients

Litigation: Hanshow against SES Imagotag/VusionGroup over interactive electronic label device; Centripetal against Cisco over cybersecurity; Thales against Selp over data pages for biometric passports; Resolve Stroke against Iconeus over ultrasound imaging device; Nipro against Fresenius over dialysers; Insulet against Medtrum over medical device; Fresenius against Biogen over adalinumab/Humira; Teva against MSD over SPC for drug ezetimibe simvastatin/Inegy (ended 2025); Teva against Bristol Myers Squibb over compound apixaban/Eliquis; Teva against Daiichi Sankyo over SPC for anti-cholesterol medication (settled 2025); Teva against Biogen over dimethylfumarate/Tecfidera; Metex Nøøvistago against CJ CheilJedang over promoters for genetically modifying bacteria that produce amino acids; Suzuki against Chemours over refrigerants; Mersen against BH2M and EDF over modular carbon dust extraction system. Prosecution: EPO oppositions for Hanshow, Thales, Total Energies, Unicabs. INPI opposition for Koopman, Thales, Total Energies.