JUVE Comment

Hogan Lovells’ patents practice has maintained its position among the top German litigation firms. It is a well-oiled machine, not only conducting top-class litigation for a multitude of notable clients within a broad technical spectrum, but also regularly bringing young talent to the fore. The team consists of internationally renowned senior partners like Martin Fähndrich and Andreas von Falck, but younger partners are also catching up: Miriam Gundt has a good reputation for pharma cases, as demonstrated by the dispute over cholesterol-lowering drug Inegy for regular client MSD. Benjamin Schröer used the litigation for Google and Valeo/Peiker, as did Henrik Lehment on the side of Apple and Vodafone, to step out of the shadows of the visible senior partners. The fact that the practice regularly offers such development opportunities to young lawyers is also because of the large number of cases that the team handles year after year. Many of these – e.g. for Eli Lilly, Hoffman La-Roche, Vodafone, HTC and Apple – are cross-border cases handled with the patent teams in Amsterdam, London and Paris. Few other international practices develop their work so consistently across international borders. The leadership role assumed by the German partners within the European practice is based on their strong visibility in high-profile proceedings at German courts. The team scored another key victory for Eli Lilly, this time regarding cancer drug Pemetrexed. It also advised Valeo/Peiker as intervener for Daimler in the connected cars suits. Quinn Emanuel representing Daimler, despite the firm’s good connections in Stuttgart, is still painful for the practice. However, its expertise in SEP and FRAND issues remains unquestionable. With Apple, Google, LG, Vodafone and ZTE, the partners frequently work for a host of top players in NPE suits. HL is also vigorously expanding its team of patent attorneys. Eleven patent attorneys now support the lawyers in litigation with broad technical expertise.

Strengths

Strong international client base, large European patents practice, cross-border litigation, especially related to pharmaceuticals and multiple telecommunications.

European strategy

Hogan Lovells has a truly cross-border litigation team. Between London, Düsseldorf, Munich and Amsterdam it is homogeneous, something reflected in its international presence in important pharmaceutical, mobile communications and electronics cases. The team is active across borders, for instance, for Apple, Eli Lilly, HTC and Vodafone. The team is present at all relevant potential UPC locations. In Germany Hogan Lovells belongs to the leading teams in the market; in France, the Netherlands and the UK the firm is a fierce challenger of the market-leading firms. The practice has smaller teams in Milan and Madrid as well. When it comes to building up a patent attorney practice across Europe, however, main competitor Bird & Bird is ahead; Hogan Lovells only began two years ago to expand its patent attorney arm in Germany. But Hogan Lovells is far ahead of competitors Bird & Bird, Allen & Overy and Freshfields in transatlantic work thanks to its well-established US patents practice.

Recommended individuals

Martin Fähndrich, Andreas von Falck (“clever, shrewd and a tough opponent in court”, competitor), Miriam Gundt (“she made an excellent impression”, client), Henrik Lehment (“strong written submissions”, competitor), Clemens Plassmann, Benjamin Schröer (“fierce opponent at court”, competitor), Steffen Steininger (“good team player who understands quickly technical problems and their significance”, competitor), Christian Stoll

Team

11 partners, 7 counsel, 25 associates (incl. 11 patent attorneys, 2 of them double qualified)

Specialties

Litigation and strategic advice to an equal extent, incl. licences, know-how protection, employee invention law and transactions. Specialties in the healthcare, medical technology, electronics, telecoms, engineering and auto sectors. Trademarks and unfair competition and advice on the interface with antitrust.

Clients

Litigation: Vodafone, Google, LG and ZTE (all defendants) against Intellectual Ventures; LG (defendant) against Fipa; HTC (defendant) against IP Bridge; Sony (defendant) against WiLan (all over mobile communications, some public knowledge); Ford (defendant) against Innovative Foundry Technologies over memory chips; Peiker/Valeo (as co-defendant of Daimler) against Nokia and Conversant over connected cars patents; Eli Lilly (claimant) against Hexal, Stada and Fresenius over cancer drug pemetrexed; MSD (claimant) against Maylan, Ratiopharm, Stada and 1A Pharma over Inegy; Hoffmann-La Roche/Genentech (claimant) against competitors over biosimilars for antibody products regarding Herceptin, Herzuma and Mab Thera; Dainese (claimant) against Alpinestars over motorcycle clothing; Hollister (defendant) against Coloplast over urinary catheter; SolarEdge (claimant) against Huawei over photovoltaic patents; LG Electronics (claimant) against Arcelic over refrigerators; LG Display (defendant) against Solas OLED over OLED/light-emitting diodes; Joled (claimant) over OLED/light-emitting diodes; Molex (defendant) against Wago over electric-connecting terminals; Bruker (both claimant and defendant) against Waters over mass spectometer; regularly for Apple, Medinol, Shimano.