JUVE Comment

The patent litigation arm of this international full-service firm maintains its visibility in pharmaceutical cases across Europe. Life sciences continues to be a core focus of the firm’s London office, retaining important links with clients on the generics side such as global originator company Pfizer. Over the past year, Taylor Wessing was twice present in the Supreme Court in its litigation for client Mylan against Eli Lilly, as well as Warner Lambert, concerning tadalafil and pregabalin respectively. These cases had a pan-European element, confirming the firm’s commitment to providing a thoroughly cross-border litigation strategy. However, there is room for expansion especially in the telecommunications sector. The team has a good reputation for telecommunication cases but not the same presence in the market as the leading boutiques. This is mainly because Taylor Wessing has acted so far for smaller mobile communication device manufacturers in big SEP cases. But the team is seing progress in this field, making headway through winning international client Oppo as defendant in an important FRAND dispute against Sisvel occurring across Europe. The firm’s advisory and litigation work on FRAND and jurisdictional challenges for Oppo is not its only telecommunication milestone, however. Taylor Wessing’s work for Asus against Dutch company Philips also concerns FRAND matters. This year in London, Taylor Wessing has promoted two associates to partner, highlighting scope for further client growth, especially in the life sciences sector.

Strengths

Pharmaceutical litigation including for generics companies.

European strategy

Taylor Wessing continues to build its cross-border offering, with a strong presence across the major European patent jurisdictions of London, Munich and Düsseldorf. TW also has a steadily growing presence in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, and has small offerings in Brussels and Paris – an asset should the UPC come to fruition. Unlike other firms such as Bird & Bird and Hogan Lovells, Taylor Wessing has not built up its own patent attorney practice in Germany. However, across Europe its lawyers tend to be more involved in EPO opposition and appeal proceedings than some competitors. Looking at its direct competitors, Taylor Wessing does not operate at the same high level as Bird & Bird and Hogan Lovells in terms of number of telecommunication cases throughout Europe. With the representation of Asus in Germany, UK and the Netherlands, the practice has, however taken an important step to redress this even though the major competitors have been actively involved in cases of this calibre for years. But there is no doubt that Taylor Wessing’s European presence is reflected in its clients, which regularly turn to the firm for European disputes. Notable examples are Pfizer in London and the Netherlands, and Abbott in the UK and Germany.

Recommended individuals

Simon Cohen, Michael Washbrook

Team

7 partners, 2 of counsel, 10 associates

Specialties

Broad range of patent litigation activity, especially pharmaceutical and life sciences for generics companies and originator companies. Less activity in the telecommunications sector, but experienced in SEP and FRAND cases on the defendant side. Advisory work, for example SPC regulation. Transactions.

Clients

Litigation: Abbott (claimant) against Edward Lifesciences regarding infringement of medical device products; Pfizer (claimant) against Hoffman La-Roche in infringement and revocation case over bevacizumab including arrow declarations; Asus (defendant) against Philips in infringement and revocation case over SEP and FRAND; Oppo (defendant) against Sisvel and Mitsubishi Electronics in infringement and revocation case over SEP and FRAND including jurisdiction; Mylan (defendant) against Warner-Lambert in an infringement and revocation case over pregabalin; Mylan (claimant) against ICOS and Eli Lilly in revocation case over tadalafil; Accord and Mylan (claimants) against Gilead concerning infringement and validity of SPC for tadalafil.