JUVE Comment

The litigation team at this full-service firm has a good position in Düsseldorf. The technical breadth of the team’s litigation work is a real advantage, as it is deeply rooted among midsized companies that are active in various sectors. Often these clients turn to HKLW for its cooperation with European firms in the WSG network. The team frequently litigates for midsized clients in highly specialised technological fields, e.g. for Sisgrass over modern surfaces for sports grounds, for Egger over digital printing for furniture parts and for Echonens over medical devices. In contrast to litigation in medical technology, pharma proceedings play a subsidiary role. An associate who joined the firm from a Düsseldorf rival managed to build up long-term work in pharma suits. Initial work related to telecom patents, however, was not further pursued. The team needs to establish a toehold in both areas to enable HKLW to improve the quality of its cases and move into the upper middle tier of German litigation firms. The close ties to patent attorney firms like Cohausz & Florack and the intensive cooperation with partner firms in the WSG network have so far hindered this.

Strengths

Litigation for Mittelstand clients, advice on know-how protection.

European strategy

The smooth cooperation within the international WSG network gives the patent team a good basis for the potential UPC launch, especially when it comes to advising midsized clients in multinational proceedings. However, this will require the partner firms staying loyal to the network. As far as high-end litigation is concerned, these ties are less helpful, as proceedings mainly take place in two jurisdictions rather than across Europe.

Recommended individuals

Anton Horn (“very structured”, competitor)

Team

1 equity partner, 1 salary partner, 2 associates

Specialties

IP work focuses slightly more on trademarks and unfair competition than technical protection rights. Infringement and nullity suits, know-how protection, licensing contracts and transaction advice.

Clients

Litigation: Brødrene Hartmann over egg cartons; CeramOptec over laser technology; Sisgrass over surface for sports grounds; Echonens over medical ultrasound devices; Egger over digital print for furniture parts.