JUVE Comment

Although filing activity fluctuated in the first year of coronavirus, the well-positioned litigation practice of this Stuttgart IP boutique made steady progress. This is thanks to Witte Weller’s strong specialty in the life sciences sector. EPO oppositions, nullity suits and infringement proceedings are mainly conducted for Mittelstand companies from the medical product sector, such as Karl Storz and Diazyme. Work involving biotech patents is also taking on a weightier role, for instance for German and US universities and Jennewein Biotechnologie, which was recently taken over by Danish competitor Christian Hansen. This has so far not had a negative impact on Witte Weller’s activity. Pure pharma patents, on the other hand, are of somewhat less importance.

Because of the close cooperation with law firms, such as Gleiss Lutz, Witte Weller conducts infringement proceedings across a broad technical spectrum overall. It is battling for Sony over display devices for digital texts, for Supponor over advertising overlays on TV broadcasts and for Stihl over robot lawnmowers.

This technically broad focus is also reflected in prosecution work. The firm is busy conducting EPO oppositions for regular client Boeing, although its business came under extreme pressure during the coronavirus crisis. Work for other industry giants, such as Mitsubishi Electronics and Philips, bears witness to the firm’s experience with electronics patents.

Strengths

Patent prosecution across a broad spectrum of technology. Litigation over medical devices.

Recommended individuals

Christian Steil, Volker Heuckeroth, Stephan Keck (all patent attorneys)

Team

19 patent attorneys

Specialties

Exclusive activity in IP, 80 percent of which is in patents. Filing practice with a strong focus on electronics, medical technology and mechanics. Opposition and nullity suits. Infringement proceedings with external lawyers.

Clients

Litigation: Diazyme and General Atomics (defendants) against Brahms over diagnostics technology; regular Karl Storz over medical devices; Sony (defendant) against Virtual Papers over digital book technology; Boing (defendant) against Airbus in EPO opposition over a method for handling aircraft communications; Stihl (claimant) against Husquarna in EPO opposition over lawn-cutting robots; Supponor (defendant) against AIM Sport Vision over ad overlays for TV; regular activity for Pilz and Zeiss. Prosecution: filing and oppositions for Boeing, Jennewein Biotechnologie, Karl Storz, Mitsubishi Electric, Morata, Philips, Pilz, Saturn Licensing, Sony; filing for Kawasaki, Rohm and Recaro E-Gaming.