JUVE Comment

The well-positioned prosecution and litigation practice of these Munich-based patent attorneys works across a wide range of technical fields. The patent attorneys are, however, best known for their strong specialty in pharma, biotech and chemicals patents. This provided crucial stability for the firm during the difficult coronavirus pandemic.

More so than in other technical fields, in the life sciences sector the patent attorneys focus on litigation. Bernd Aechter and Christian Hollatz have a good reputation for their work in EPO oppositions, nullity suits and infringement proceedings. The pharma practice often manages the balancing act between generic and original drug manufacturers, e.g. Accord and Viatris or Novartis. The good relations with the Swiss pharma giant, which also provides generic products via its subsidiary Sandoz/Hexal, embodies the work on both sides of the sector.

The firm is also noted in the market for its very extensive filing activity for LG’s Electronics and Display divisions. This has resulted in a good name for filing electronics patents. In terms of litigation, the patent attorneys were more active for Giesecke & Devrient concerning SEPs.

Strengths

Patent prosecution related to chemicals, pharmaceuticals and electronics. Pharmaceuticals litigation.

Recommended individuals

Bernd Aechter (“careful preparation of difficult material, very good arguments in difficult chemicals cases”, competitor), Christian Hollatz (both patent attorneys)

Team

19 patent attorneys

Specialties

Activity in IP with a focus on technical protection rights related to chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotech and medicine, automotive engineering, mechanics and electronics, telecoms. Patent filing, opposition and nullity suits. Infringement proceedings with external lawyers.

Clients

Litigation: Novartis (claimant) against Zentiva and Aluid Pharma over breast cancer drug Afinitor; Hexal/Sandoz (defendants) against Gilead over HIV drug Truvada; Accord (claimant) against Amgen on EPO opposition over Minpara; Aspen (claimant) against Nano Tech over aerogels; strawman in EPO opposition against Bayer over cancer drug regorafenib; Mylan Dura/Viatris (defendant) against MSD over Inegy; Develco and Hexal (defendants) against Mundipharma over Targin; many EPO objections for Viatris and Hexal; Giesecke & Devrient (defendant) against Thales on EPO opposition and nullity suit over eSim technology; TP Link (defendant) against Modern Telecom System over SEP and FRAND. Prosecution: filing for Coretronic, Doosan Heavy Industries, Hexal, LG, Mitsubishi, Kolon Industries, Precitech, Seki Sui, Shin-Etsu, Sekisui, Dr. Wolff Group (all public knowledge).