JUVE Comment

The German practice of this international full-service law firm has secured a place among the market leaders with a strong presence in high-calibre disputes in the pharmaceuticals and telecommunications sectors. The team’s work has recently been characterised by extensive litigation series for regular client Novartis as well as high-profile disputes for Meta and Xiaomi – often in an international context. In addition to the renowned Düsseldorf partners Frank-Erich Hufnagel and Wolrad Prinz zu Waldeck und Pyrmont, the young Munich partner Nina Bayerl is increasingly gaining in profile and is praised by competitors for her “confident team leadership”.

The recent appointment of a counsel already recognised in the market and whom a competitor praises as “very strong in complex technical problems” also shows how well Freshfields promotes young talent. In addition, the young Berlin team is increasingly establishing itself, with a young lawyer also gaining market recognition. The firm is therefore well positioned for the special requirements of the UPC.

European set-up

For years, the international law firm has maintained an integrated European patent team with a wealth of experience in pan-European patent infringement proceedings. It impressively develops extensive work such as that for Moderna across national borders – although not all practices are involved in every case. With the firm’s Dutch team coordinating the case, and the London office also involved in the UK part of proceedings, this work demonstrates how Freshfields successfully activates its pan-European office network for important patent cases.

The firm is now bringing this extensive experience to bear in numerous UPC cases, where Freshfields is one of the top representatives for a large number of clients. These include well-known companies from the pharmaceutical sector such as Alexion (against Amgen) and Novartis (against Celltrion) as well as from the digital information sector such as Netgear (against Huawei) or Hewlett Packard (against Nokia). The UPC proceedings are mainly managed and coordinated from Germany, but in some cases Freshfields lawyers from other offices are involved, for example from Amsterdam for Xiaomi (against Panasonic) or from London and Amsterdam for Kodak. This is where the well-established international cooperation comes into play, which is further strengthened by the UPC.

Strengths

Pharmaceuticals and telecoms litigation, advice on the interface with antitrust.

Recommended individuals

Nina Bayerl (“highly professional and friendly”, “very impressive”, “professional team leader”, competitors), Frank-Erich Hufnagel (“excellent analyst and litigator”, “strong lead counsel”, “first choice for pharma litigation”, competitors), Wolrad Prinz zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (“very hard working and results-oriented”, “solid presence, an eye for detail”, competitors)

Team

19 lawyers

Clients

Litigation: Moderna against BioNTech over mRNA patents; Alexion against Amgen over orphan drug; Novartis against Zentiva and Aliud over breast cancer drug Afinitor/everolimus; Novartis against multiple generic drug companies over MS drug Gilenya/fingolimod; Meta Platforms against Voxer over live broadcast feature; Lenovo against InterDigital over video coding; Kodak against Fujifilm over printing plates; Ericsson against KPN over SEPs; Netgear against Huawei over wi-fi technology; Xiaomi against Panasonic over SEPs.