JUVE Comment

The departure of two young partners to Clifford Chance around three years ago dealt a psychological blow to the German patent litigation practice of this internationally positioned IP boutique. Nevertheless, their exit has not diminished its market-leading position in German litigation long-term. The litigation team at Hoyng ROKH Monegier continues to hold its own against strong competition from other German boutiques such as Bardehle Pagenberg and Arnold Ruess, as well as major international firms like Bird & Bird and Hogan Lovells, maintaining a strong presence across a broad technical spectrum of high-profile cases.

The firm’s sterling reputation stems not only from numerous cases for domestic clients such as Heckler & Koch regarding weapons and Vorwerk concerning kitchen appliances. Its impressive international client base in pharmaceuticals and mobile communications plays an equally significant role. BioNTech and Gilead have consistently instructed the pharmaceutical team led by Christine Kanz for years. Even BioNTech’s appointment of strong UK competitor Powell Gilbert as a second regular counsel has not affected this relationship.

The mobile communications and electronics team led by Klaus Haft now works exclusively for implementers such as Apple, Lenovo and HMD, following Huawei’s move to Clifford Chance with the two departing partners. The work for Chinese car manufacturer BYD against IP Bridge demonstrates the partners’ ability to transfer their SEP and FRAND expertise to emerging sectors.

The firm’s continued market leadership in Germany also reflects its ability to consistently develop young talent, most recently with Lars Baum and Carina Höfer. The latter was appointed equity partner in 2025. Simultaneously, Hoyng ROKH Monegier is expanding its German patent attorney team which, unlike the Amsterdam prosecution practice, focuses exclusively on pharmaceutical litigation. To this end, the firm recruited patent attorney Claudia Hertzsch as counsel from König Szynka Tilmann von Renesse in 2025, bringing valuable pharmaceutical litigation experience. In mobile communications litigation, however, Hoyng ROKH carefully maintains close relationships with external patent attorney firms such as Samson & Partner, its partner for Apple and HMD work.

European set-up

To establish an early leading role in UPC cases, Hoyng ROKH Monegier invested in mixed teams of lawyers and patent attorneys across multiple locations, actively promoting cross-border cooperation between offices in pan-European proceedings. Since the new court’s launch, these efforts have borne fruit. The firm has emerged as one of the most active at the UPC, with only a handful of firms such as Bardehle Pagenberg and Bird & Bird showing slightly more visibility over the past two years.

Hoyng ROKH Monegier has successfully guided both long-standing clients such as Lenovo to the new court while winning new clients like e-bike manufacturer myStromer with its UPC expertise. The firm handles numerous UPC cases across diverse technologies, from printing technology through automotive accessories (for Magna) to household appliances (for Hurom). However, as with national courts, mobile communications and IT-related patents currently dominate its UPC work.

Clients particularly value the firm’s integrated teamwork. The IP firm deploys international teams for most proceedings, as demonstrated in its representation of Lenovo against Ericsson by German and Dutch lawyers. Thanks to its substantial team, Hoyng ROKH Monegier can handle multiple major UPC proceedings simultaneously. This was recently demonstrated for key pharmaceutical client BioNTech, whom the German team is defending against both a UPC lawsuit from Promosome and, alongside Dutch colleagues and Powell Gilbert lawyers, against claims from GSK. The firm also recently represented long-standing client Samsung in UPC proceedings against NPE Headwater.

The large-scale proceedings brought before the UPC since early 2025 have broadened leadership beyond the initial strong focus on Klaus Haft. Other partners including Tobias Hahn, Christine Kanz and Mirko Weinert, as well as French and Dutch partners, now regularly lead proceedings.

Strengths

Cross-border litigation for pharma originators and implementors of electronics and telecom patents, including SEP and FRAND.

Recommended individuals

Lars Baum (“first-class work, quick, reliable, competent advice”, client), Klaus Haft (“excellent teamworker”, client; “a formidable opponent”, competitor), Tobias Hahn, Carina Höfer (“excellent young litigator”, competitor), Christine Kanz (“easy to work with, provides the pragmatic and commercial advice we need to make key decisions”, client; “excellent litigator, a pleasure to work with”, competitor), Martin Köhler, Kay Kasper (“client-oriented advice and excellent teamwork”, client), Mirko Weinert (“vast expertise in SEP and FRAND”, client)

Team

28 lawyers, 3 patent attorneys

Clients

Litigation: BYD against IP Bridge over mobile communications, including FRAND; Motorola and Lenovo against Ericsson over 5G (settled 2024); Netflix against Broadcom/Avago over video coding technology; HMD against VoiceAge over speech coding technology; BioNTech against CureVac and Moderna over mRNA patents (ended 2025); Takeda against generic drug companies over Elvanse; Regeneron against various generics companies over biosimilar for retinal disease drug Eylea; FujiFilm against Xerox over printing products; Heckler & Koch against C.G. Haenel over weapons; Vorwerk against Lidl and Hoyer over Thermomix kitchen appliance; frequent litigation for Apple, Gilead, Intel, Samsung, Sony. Advice: BMW on SEP licences; Novartis regarding litigation strategy.