JUVE Comment

With their strong presence in complex series of proceedings, Vossius lawyers belong right behind those at the top of the market, where the mixed firm’s patent attorneys have long been. Clients from a range of industries regularly rely on the IP boutique’s combined strength in legal and technical expertise in infringement proceedings and the parallel nullity suits. Like Bardehle Pagenberg, the firm consistently and successfully relies on a mixed team of lawyers and patent attorneys.

The already market-leading prosecution practice is active in numerous oppositions. The resulting good connections for the patent attorneys are a frequent source of litigation activity, too.

This is especially true for pharma and medical technology. Medical technology giant Boston Scientific trusted Vossius for EPO filing and oppositions as well as infringement proceedings against Nevro and Cook. Vossius litigates in a wide array of other technologies besides lawsuits involving life sciences patents. In addition, the mixed firm is more impressive than competitor Hoffmann Eitle, for example, in litigation over SEPs and FRAND for Xiaomi, Wiko and TCL, who are not necessarily regular clients of the prosecution practice.

Vossius traditionally nurtures close ties to Asian clients, such as Hyundai and Sumitomo. These benefit from a team of patent attorneys that includes native speakers for Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese, some of whom have experience of the patent law in their countries of origin. Vossius underlined this commitment by appointing a patent attorney with Korean roots, who joined as counsel last year, to partner.

Strengths

Mixed litigation teams, mainly concerning pharmaceuticals, biotech, mechanics and mobile communications. Patent prosecution with broad technical expertise.

European set-up

Apart from an office in Basel, the national IP boutique is not represented in any other European city. Despite this, Vossius plays a role in international cases more often than, for example, Grünecker. Thanks to long-standing contacts at foreign firms like Kirkland & Ellis, Bristows and Brinkhof, Vossius is more active in cross-border disputes than other national boutiques without international offices. These collaborations propel the Vossius patent litigators closer to international firms like Hoyng ROKH Monegier and Bird & Bird. In the latest international proceedings for Alcon, Vossius is working with the UK and US offices of Kirkland & Ellis. The good connection to the US firm was already evident in the cooperation for BAT in the e-cigarette battle with Philip Morris.

Vossius has been strategically working towards such top-level international instructions for some time, so as to eventually play an important role at the UPC. It is nicely positioned for this, with its successful mixed approach and wealth of litigation experience.

Now the firm is taking the next step and, together with its Dutch partner firm Brinkhof, has founded Vossius & Brinkhof UPC litigators. The two firms will remain independent, but in the future, under this new umbrella brand, they will handle all UPC work, from consulting to litigation, together with around 30 lawyers and over 50 patent attorneys. As Vossius & Brinkhof UPC Litigators, the two firms will be represented at the UPC courts in Düsseldorf, Munich and The Hague. They are establishing an office in Paris specifically for UPC proceedings at the Central Division.

In doing so, they are consciously taking a new path that sets them apart from pan-European mergers such as Hoyng ROKH Monegier. In France and Italy, they also want to cooperate closely with individual law firms, but without entering into exclusive ties. In the UK, both firms have traditionally had a very close relationship with the IP firm Bristows. It remains to be seen how successful Vossius and Brinkhof will jointly be before the UPC. But their new cooperation will very likely have an impact on relationships with other partner law firms which, like Kirkland & Ellis, have their own ambitions for the UPC.

Recommended individuals

Andreas Kramer (“very efficient lawyer”, client), Thure Schubert, Georg Rauh (“solid SEP specialist”, client), Kai Rüting (“experienced, pragmatic, good”, competitor); patent attorneys: Gerhard Hermann, Hans-Rainer Jaenichen (“excellent for life sciences EPO oppositions”, competitor), Elard Frhr. von Schenck zu Schweinsberg

Team

55 patent attorneys, 14 lawyers

Specialties

All-round IP activity. Strong patent prosecution department with three technical practices: chemicals, life sciences and technology (incl. mobile communications). Litigation in integrated teams. Trademarks and unfair competition.

Clients

Litigation: Alcon (claimant) against Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision and AMO over laser-eye technology; Boston Scientific (claimant) against Nevo over pain management through neuromodulation; Boston Scientific (claimant) against Cook Medical over compression clamps used for preventing or stopping bleeding (public knowledge); Archos (defendant) against Via Licensing over audio and video coding; Ethypharm (defendant) against Novartis over Repamycin; Eglo (defendant) against Signify over LED; Wiko (defendant) against Philips, Via Licensing and Intellectual Ventures; Xiaomi (defendant) against Mitsubishi, General Electric, IP Bridge, Philips on HEVC/H.265 standards; Xiaomi (defendant) against InterDigital on HEVC/H.265 standards (settled 2021); TCL (defendant) against MPEG LA over DVB-T2 and HEVC standards (settled 2021); British American Tobacco (defendant) against Philip Morris over e-cigarettes; Online Cleaning (claimant) against Remondis and Eichner Innovative in nullity and cancellation case over cleaning technology for waste incineration plants (settled 2022). Advice: Lenovo on hearing witnesses against InterDigital. Prosecution: oppositions for BioNTech, Crispr Therapeutics, Hyundai Mobis. Filing and oppositions for 3M, Xinjiang Goldwind, Boston Scientific, IMC Group, Iscar, LG, Max Planck Society, NEC, ResMed, Roche, Sumitomo, ZTE.