JUVE Comment

This European IP boutique is a leader in patent litigation in Germany and has further consolidated its position. The team is regularly involved in groundbreaking mobile communications cases, most recently for Apple. A team around Haft defended the iPhone manufacturer for the first time together with Freshfields against a series of suits from Qualcomm, right up until they were settled. The good ties to Intel, whose chips were subject to the dispute, opened the door to the instruction. The firm frequently attracts attention in major pharma cases as well, e.g. for core client Gilead, which Kanz represented in a precedent SPC dispute concerning the HIV drug Truvada. Clients and competitors alike praise the firm for its “excellent teamwork” and “good coordination”, which enable efficient work in major cases. HRM has driven cross-border cooperation with other European offices and increasingly deploys multinational teams in litigation over multiple countries. E.g. in the case against Nikon, the Amsterdam office advised ASML while the Düsseldorf practice represented supplier Carl Zeiss in the German proceedings. This increasingly successful European network landed the German patent practice further prominent clients, such as a US company from the consumer goods industry, which the trademark lawyers in Madrid transferred to the Düsseldorf patent practice, with the latter providing both litigation and prosecution. Following the growth resulting from the merger a few years ago, the firm now needs to develop a European strategy to avoid conflicts. One example is whether the firm as a whole wants to represent NPEs or patent users, originator companies or generics manufacturers.

Strengths

Cross-border litigation over pharma, electronics and telecom patents.

European strategy

Hoyng ROKH Monegier has established a broad geographical position in Europe through an intelligent merger strategy, and it did this earlier and to a greater extent than other patent litigation firms. The merger with Véron & Associés the previous year also enabled it to match the Paris office to the size of the strong branches in Düsseldorf and Amsterdam. HRM recently strengthened its Dutch branch by appointing new partners. In addition, the firm has small offices in Brussels and Madrid. So far, HRM has shown no interest in London, which is an important location for pharmaceutical cases. At the same time, the firm is driving cross-border cooperation among the individual offices and is increasingly using multi-national teams, most recently in the parallel litigation for ASML and Carl Zeiss against Nikon.

Recommended individuals

Klaus Haft (“precisely and clearly structured”, “excellent technical and legal understanding”, “good in litigation”, competitor), Martin Köhler, Kay Kasper, (“first-class team leading and coordination of complex patent proceedings”, competitor about all three), Tobias Hahn, Christine Kanz, Mirko Weinert, Stefan Richter (“very impressive in litigation”, competitor, “extensive know-how in disputes and other types of proceedings”, client about the entire team)

Team

9 equity partners, 1 counsel, 10 associates, 1 of counsel

Specialties

Pan-European IP boutique focusing on patent infringement, proceedings and nullity suits. Also licences, R&D cooperations and transactions. Trademarks and unfair competition.

Clients

Litigation: (some public knowlegde) Apple against Qualcomm over chips for mobile communication devices; Motorola against Hytera over audio technology; Samsung against Fundamental Innovation Systems; Deutsche Telekom against Intellectual Ventures (both over mobile communications); ASML/Carl Zeiss SMT against Nikon over manufacturing technology for semiconductors; Texas Instruments against Innovative Foundry Technologies over chip for infotainment modules in vehicles; Aspen against Alison and Nanotech over aerogel technology; Gilead against Teva over SPC for Truvada.