JUVE Comment

The patent attorneys maintain an excellent track record in EPO oppositions and technical proceedings, particularly in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. The team was once again involved in numerous economically significant EPO oppositions for its regular pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. Its most notable recent success was representing Polpharma against Biogen before the Boards of Appeal concerning a dosage patent for multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera. The team also regularly acts as a straw man in EPO oppositions.

Working alongside external lawyers, such as Pentarc, the team is regularly involved in infringement proceedings. Current matters include defending Disney against InterDigital in a video compression case. Given its experience, size and client base, the firm is well positioned to build greater visibility in UPC proceedings.

The Munich IP firm continues to attract an increasing share of prosecution work from its international client base. The electronics patents team has developed strong networks with Chinese and Korean clients, including LG, generating a steady stream of instructions in both prosecution and infringement matters.

Strengths

Mobile communications, pharma, and biotech litigation.

Recommended individuals

Bernd Laqua, Rainer Röthinger (“experienced and technically very good”, competitor), Steffen Schmidt, Hendrik Wichmann (all patent attorneys)

Team

28 patent attorneys

Clients

Litigation: Novozymes against DSM over enzymes in milk products. EPO oppositions: Polpharma against Biogen over dosage patent for multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera/dimethylfumarat; straw man against Regeneron over ophthalmic drug Eylea/aflibercept; straw man against Novo Nordisk over weight-loss products. Oppositions: Airbus, Colgate-Palmolive, Ericsson, Hyundai, KT&G Corporation, LG, Olympus, Tencent, Xiaomi (public knowledge).