JUVE Comment

This IP boutique was once again very strong when it came to representing holders of mobile or wi-fi SEPs against implementers in German courts. In this segment, the Düsseldorf IP boutique is one of the market leaders. However, it also covers a breadth of technologies.

Its partners, who are renowned across the board, remain very active for SEP holders. Together with the patent attorneys at Bosch Jehle they have been running two highly successful campaigns for years for VoiceAge and Crystal Clear Codec on the patent exploitation side. Even though the relationship with Bosch Jehle is almost symbiotic, it is by no means exclusive, as both also work successfully with other law firms.

Wildanger has recently added Atlas Global, Neo Wireless and Palmira Wireless to its list of NPE clients.

The firm’s young talent benefits from this strong presence in SEP proceedings. Year after year, behind the senior partners Wolf Graf von Schwerin, Peter-Michael Weisse and Eva Geschke, younger partners are growing their profiles through SEP proceedings. No other Düsseldorf litigation firm has such a strong team in the next two generations of partners as Wildanger with Soenke Fock, Jasper Meyer zu Riemsloh, Ole Dirks, Alexander Reetz and now also Alexander Wiese.

However, the downside of this strong development in mobile communications is that the firm is currently rather inconspicuous in pharmaceutical litigation. Apart from the regular work for Genentech or the work for Viatris on fingolimod, Wildanger cannot currently keep up with other market leaders such as Hoyng ROKH Monegier or Arnold Ruess in this segment. There is potential here for one or two younger partners to develop their own profile alongside Geschke.

European set-up

The IP boutique, which insists on its independence, can participate in major international disputes thanks to its now considerable size and partner breadth. In proceedings on the SEP owner side, the Wildanger partners usually occupy a central position in international teams due to their important role before German courts, and now also before the UPC. Proceedings for Atlas Global and Neo Wireless are now also taking place at the UPC. In its work for Asus against the Access Advanced pool, Wildanger also showed that it is equally adept at representing defendants before national courts and the UPC.

Overall, Wildanger got off to a good start at the new court. In the early UPC days the Wildanger partners worked closely with Powell Gilbert for Ocado over robot-assisted technology. Ocado took the case against Autostore to several local divisions immediately after the UPC launched. Subsequently, Ocado and AutoStore then quickly settled the dispute. But Wildanger is still present in other UPC disputes outside the SEP field. For Troester it acts on the defendant side against KraussMaffei over multiple extrusion heads.

The law firm is now also active for Meril Life Sciences in UPC proceedings against Edward Lifesciences over heart valves, but so far only as co-counsel to Hogan Lovells. The involvement in a major medical device dispute also offers Wildanger the opportunity to become more involved in the life sciences sector as a whole. This could also help the law firm to compensate for its weakness in pharmaceutical litigation. Bardehle Pagenberg, for example, was similarly weak in this segment a few years ago, but used the UPC launch specifically to polish up its reputation here with two key clients.

Strengths

SEP and FRAND disputes mainly for NPEs in mobile communications. Litigation related to electronics and mechanics.

Recommended individuals

Ole Dirks, Soenke Fock, Eva Geschke, (“top litigator with excellent technical understanding”, “fast, friendly, effective”, competitors), Alexander Reetz, Jasper Meyer zu Riemsloh (“very good discussion partner for patent attorneys”, “dives deep into the technical material, extensive experience with SEPs”, competitors), Wolf Graf von Schwerin, Peter-Michael Weisse (“outstandingly intelligent and creative, highly dedicated”, “one of the top three litigators in Germany”, competitors), Alexander Wiese (“things always go well with him, always delivers the best results”, competitor)

Team

17 lawyers

Clients

Litigation: VoiceAge EVS against HMD, Honor and Oppo over speech coding for mobile devices;Crystal Clear Codec against Apple, Oppo and Xiaomi over speech coding for mobile devices; K.Mizra againt Niantic over ID services; Huawei against HMD over 4G and 5G; Asus against members of Access Advance Pool over HEVC video coding; Atlas Global against various implementers over wi-fi standard; Netlist against Google, Micron and Samsung over storage chips; Neo Wireless against various car manufacturers over mobile communication patents; Palmira Wireless against Amazon, Nintendo and others over wi-fi SEPs; Viatris against Novartis over over MS drug fingolimod/Gilenya; regular litigation for BSH, Henkel, Kenwood, Roche/Genentech.