JUVE Comment

This patent attorney firm is one of the market leaders for litigation in pharma and biotech. König Szynka litigates for its regular clients from the life sciences industry in cases of high economic and legal importance, with many years of activity for pharma originators Bayer and Eli Lilly.

In such cases, the patent attorneys work hand in hand with lawyers from large international firms. Litigation in partnership with Hogan Lovells and Allen & Overy has been established for years, but the firm also enjoyed recent success with the patent team from Linklaters for ViiV Healthcare. The patent attorneys’ expertise in SPCs stands out.

The firm also has a major presence in national nullity proceedings and EPO oppositions for regular clients, for which it also files patents. In addition to the litigation practice, the partners also maintain a small but successful prosecution practice, which also covers mechanics patents.

Strengths

Litigation by patent attorneys, often in precedent cases, primarily for biotech and pharmaceuticals originators, including SPCs. Mechanics patents.

European set-up

As experienced litigators in pharma and biotech cases and strong partners for big international law firms, the patent attorneys at König Szynka are well prepared for pan-European series of proceedings as well as UPC cases. Whether their regular clients will actually hire them for the new court or prefer to rely entirely on mixed patent teams in international firms like Hogan Lovells remains to be seen. With its conservative approach geared neither towards team growth nor a high leverage, but rather the excellence of its patent attorneys alone, the firm is currently waiting and watching the preparations for the UPC. It does have a positive attitude towards the court, however, though more dynamic outfits like Cohausz & Florack could pull ahead of it when the UPC opens.

Recommended individuals

Claudia Hertzsch (“sensational in state of the art, super orator”, competitor), Gregor König (“good strategist, always in control in proceedings”, competitor), Dirk Szynka (“highly experienced and technically proficient”, competitor), Dorothea von Renesse (“really good biologist”, competitor), Carla Roth (all patent attorneys)

Team

13 patent attorneys

Specialties

Exclusive activity in IP with a clear focus on patents. Prosecution with a broad technical spectrum. Extensive litigation work. Also patent assessments and licensing contracts.

Clients

Litigation: ViiV Healthcare (claimant) against Gilead on HIV drug Bictarvy (settled 2022); Bayer Animal Health (defendant) against Ceva over medicine for coccidial infections (settled 2021); Bayer Pharma against Takeda on blood-clotting protein Factor VIII drug (settled 2021); Eli Lilly (defendant) against Novartis on antibody drug Taltz; Eli Lilly (claimant) against Hexal, Fresenius Kabi, Accord, Medac, Zentiva, Hikma and IFA over cancer drug pemetrexed (all public knowledge). Prosecution: advice, filing and oppositions for AbbVie, Bayer Pharma, Bayer Crop Science, Eli Lilly, Storz Medical, Fraunhofer Technologie Fonds, Infineon, Geberit, Glycotope, Hauff Technik, MTU Aero Engines, Paccor Packaging, Paion, Qiagen, Tracto-Technik, Takeda (all public knowledge). Advice, filing and oppositions regarding SPCs for Bayer Pharma, Bayer Animal Health, Bayer Crop Science, Orion, Orbus, Paion.