JUVE Comment

The patent attorneys at this Munich IP firm have an excellent reputation for patent prosecution in electronics, IT and mechanics. Their patent prosecution work at the interface with AI, which is becoming increasingly important for the firm’s clients, stands out. The prosecution team recently gained a new client for comprehensive advice in the shape of Volkswagen’s newly founded battery subsidiary PowerCo.

Even better known than the prosecution business is the firm’s litigation for implementers such as Xiaomi, TCL and Honor in suits brought by NPEs, particularly on issues relating to SEPs and FRAND. Last year, for example, it litigated for Xiaomi as defendant against lawsuits brought by Immersion concerning haptic effects in mobile phones.

The team is constantly growing; it gained another patent attorney and is training numerous career starters. This also underscores the firm’s desire to expand its position in the life sciences sector. Last year, it took on Sandra Zinner for this purpose. This is admittedly a highly competitive sector, but also opens up many opportunities for new clients.

European set-up

The continuous development of the team puts MFG in a position to handle larger UPC proceedings. The well-established relationships with law firms such as Noerr, Simmons & Simmons and Taliens could also help here. The team is involved in its first UPC proceedings for core client TCL against NEC regarding video coding. In Frank Meyer-Wildhagen and Martin Meggle-Freund the firm has two highly visible experts in its team for representing Asian implementers in the mobile communications sector. Till Gerhard enjoys an excellent reputation for SEP litigation in the automotive industry.

Strengths

Mobile communications cases on the implementer side.

Recommended individuals

Till Gerhard, Frank Meyer-Wildhagen (“tenacious and solution-oriented”, competitor), Martin Meggle-Freund

Team

8 patent attorneys

Clients

Litigation: Xiaomi against Immersion over haptic effects in mobile phones; TCL against NEC over video coding UPC; Honor against VoiceAge EVS over speech codecs for mobile phones; Xiaomi against Crystal Clear Codec over SEP; Centripetal against Cisco over technology for network security; Enovsys against Deutsche Telekom over data security in mobile location technology. Prosecution: filing for Centripetal, Joled, Konica Minolta, PowerCo, Sony, Tadano, Volkswagen (all public knowledge).