JUVE Comment

This Düsseldorf litigation firm is one of the main challengers to the market leaders on the lawyer side. Companies trust in the lawyers for their high-stakes cases in a variety of technological fields, especially medical products, chemicals or mobile communications. Industrial companies and SMEs alike rely on the team, which is also deeply rooted in the automotive industry.

On the top-class client list, Ericsson stands out. The company hired the firm in two major series of proceedings against Samsung in 2021 and against Apple in early 2022, which underscores Kather Augenstein’s close ties to the Swedish mobile communications company, which no other German firm can rival at present. While the dispute with Samsung was quickly settled, the battle with Apple has grown into one of the largest mobile communications lawsuits currently being fought in the world.

Kather Augenstein has recently seen the addition of many new clients, including a developer of innovative drive systems and a carmaker, as well as subsidiaries of long-standing clients. Litigation for Siemens against TCL over mobile communications patents also shows how deeply rooted the firm is in the German corporate scene.

Strengths

Litigation, especially mobile communications.

European set-up

The Düsseldorf IP litigation boutique sees many opportunities to represent its clients before the UPC as a team of purely lawyers. The firm has been actively preparing for the arrival of the new court with a clear strategy for years. The UPC is likely to play a central role for patent holders in the mobile communications sector, such as Ericsson, when they enforce their patents against implementers globally to achieve licence agreements.

For such international disputes, Kather Augenstein enjoys strong relationships with similar teams in other countries. It occasionally plays a coordinator role in international cases, for instance the proceedings in the US, UK and Netherlands for hearing system company Advanced Bionics.

The firm also has excellent connections to various patent attorney firms but has explicitly rejected exclusive partnerships or the idea of bringing in patent attorneys. As a result, in addition to its own strong ties to numerous companies, it is called on time and again by patent attorneys for new high-stakes cases.

Recommended individuals

Peter Kather (“really gets to know the technology deeply”, competitor), Christof Augenstein (“truly international view of interaction between European patent court proceedings”, competitor), Miriam Kiefer (“extremely competent”, client; “very good case management, responds well to the needs of clients”, competitor), Christopher Weber (“really helped us settle cases extrajudicially”, client; “doesn’t give up until he’s found a legally viable solution in the client’s interest”, competitor)

Team

13 lawyers

Specialties

Exclusively litigation and advice in IP.

Clients

Litigation: Ericsson (claimant) against Apple over G5; Ericsson (claimant) against Samsung on implementation patents in mobile communications (settled 2021); Siemens (claimant) against TCL over mobile communications (settled 2022); Rhefor (claimant) in entitlement action against Hilti over battery-operated nail setters; Advanced Bionics (defendant) against MED-EL over cochlear implant patent; Coloplast (claimant) against Hollister over urinary catheters (all public knowledge); regular litigation for B. Braun Melsungen, BASF, Boston Scientific, Centripetal Networks, DWS, Tesa, TI Automotive. Advice: Lenze on employee invention law.