JUVE Comment

The Freshfields team remains a top choice for prominent pharmaceutical companies engaged in London patent disputes. Well-known clients such as Moderna and Alexion place their trust in the established team led by Christopher Stothers. The practice is particularly active for long-standing client AstraZeneca and its subsidiaries.

Beyond its extensive pharmaceutical work, the team handles select cases across various technical fields. Its representation of SharkNinja in multiple proceedings stands out. However, tech clients of the continental practice utilise the UK team’s services less frequently than in other areas. Consequently, the UK team has accumulated less experience in FRAND and SEP litigation compared to rivals such as Bird & Bird.

Overall, the practice maintains Freshfields’ characteristic growth strategy, featuring a lean partner structure and relatively high leverage. Up-and-coming partner Laura Whiting exemplifies this approach, leading high-profile matters such as advising Moderna on mRNA vaccine technology.

European set-up

The team’s dynamic development is further enhanced by UPC work, where the UK team around Stothers has already appeared in numerous cases, particularly alongside German colleagues. The UPC work demonstrates the effectiveness of pan-European cooperation within Freshfields. Clients such as SharkNinja, which previously instructed Freshfields in national proceedings in both Germany and the UK, now instruct an integrated German-British team to defend it at the UPC. The same applies to client Alexion in an active lawsuit. The British team is also heavily involved in work for Kodak. This positions Freshfields among the leading defenders in UPC proceedings, despite fielding a significantly smaller European team than competitors like Hogan Lovells.

The London-Amsterdam-Düsseldorf-Munich axis continues to operate smoothly in pan-European proceedings, as evidenced by work for Alexion and Moderna.

Strengths

Patent disputes regarding life sciences patents, including strategic and commercial advice.

Recommended individuals

Christopher Stothers (“very good litigator”, competitor), Laura Whiting

Team

14 lawyers

Clients

Litigation: Moderna against Pfizer over mRNA vaccine patents; AstraZeneca against Teva and Glenmark over diabetes drug dapagliflozin/Forxiga; AstraZeneca against Tesaro/GSK in royalty dispute over PARO inhibitors for cancer treatment; Alexion against Amgen and Samsung Bioepis over blood and neurological disorder drug; SharkNinja against Dyson over hairdryer and styler (settled in 2024); Convatec against David Parsons over employee inventions in medical devices.