For some time, the development of a pan-European patent litigation practice with a view to the Unified Patent Court has been a top priority for Simmons & Simmons. Now the firm in Germany has backed up its words with actions.
At the beginning of 2022, it integrated seven patent attorneys from Isenbruck Bösl Hörschler into its Munich office. They bring long-standing client relationships with Roche Diagnostics and Sanofi Pasteur, and thus perfectly complement the strong life science focus of the German team. It also recently successfully fought for Bayer with an innovative litigation strategy to keep generic versions of cancer drug Nexavar off the market.
In the long term, however, a mixed approach of litigators and patent attorneys will meet the needs of pan-European, as well as UPC, litigation. To further strengthen the German team as a mainstay of the European patent practice, practice group head Peter Meyer recently moved from Düsseldorf to Munich. As a result, the firm is now largely concentrating its German patent team at one of the most important UPC locations, as well as near the headquarters of the European Patent Office.
In the Munich office, the mobile communications practice led by Thomas Gniadek is also coming into its own with new instructions for Chinese mobile telecommunications providers such as Xiaomi and Oppo in various lawsuits brought by SEP holders. Three years ago, this type of work was almost unthinkable for the German team. Today, however, the firm is rigorously developing these kinds of instructions together with the patent teams in Amsterdam and London.