JUVE Comment

Litigation work at the well-positioned patents practice of this global firm has seen a shift in the past year. The practice had a strong specialty in life sciences disputes for many years, in cooperation with the other European offices, especially Munich and Paris. But litigation with a strong tech focus now dominates its work. The team is currently litigating for Lufthansa Technik over energy supply in air seats, and for Solid over antenna systems.

As in most large international teams, in London, the Jones Day patent litigators work closely with the other European teams. But compared to Allen & Overy or Hogan Lovells, the team is still much less involved in mobile communication disputes. Moreover, it is considerably smaller than the market-leading teams.

However, it has direct access to the firm’s strong US practice. Accordingly, the team’s coordination work in cross-border proceedings is an important part of the practice. This is also true for licensing deals and transactions. However, the team does not benefit often enough from instructions referred by the huge network which sets it apart from most of its European competitors. Enlarging the team could help Jones Day, especially in London, to access more complex work – be it from its own network or directly from clients.

Strengths

Life science and tech disputes. Integrated approach with patent attorneys in Europe. Strong US practice.

European strategy

The European patents practice is present at some of the key locations for patent disputes in Europe such as Munich, London and Paris. In the French capital, Jones Day is strongly positioned. The second pillar of the European practice is the German team, which impresses with a well-coordinated team of lawyers and patent attorneys. But there is room for further developments in Düsseldorf, where Jones Day has no-one on the ground, as there is for the London practice. The European team has an especially strong footprint in life sciences disputes. Internationally, close cooperation with the strong US teams is an asset, as is the integrated work with patent attorneys mainly located in the German offices.

Recommended individuals

Alastair McCulloch (“Jones Day has only a small london team, but Alastair is an impressive litigator”, competitor)

Team

2 partners, 5 associates

Specialties

Full service in IP. In patents, focus on life science disputes. Also experienced in other fields of technology. Transactions as well as licensing deals.

Clients

Litigation: Lufthansa Technik (claimant) against Astronics and Safran over energy supply in airseats; Solid (defendant) against CommScope over antenna systems; BMS/Celgene against various generic drug companies over different drugs, e.g. Revlimid (all public knowledge). Transactions: Sumitomo Heavy Industries regarding green energy storage project; Huadong Medicine regarding cooperation with Exscientia for an oncology drug discovery program through the use of AI.