JUVE Comment

This Düsseldorf IP boutique is among those nationally independent outfits that prepared intensively for the UPC, without ceding its independence or relying on exclusive alliances. Like Kather Augenstein, Arnold Ruess instead established a team under its own steam. It now has sufficient clout to handle larger UPC cases. One in-house counsel praised the team’s “absolutely first-class legal expertise coupled with a determination to win in the courtroom”. The firm makes good use of this, for example for core client Nokia in the dispute with Amazon and Hewlett Packard. The Finnish mobile communications giant also trusted the firm’s UPC expertise for its dispute with Verifone, althouth the company does not work exclusively with the IP boutique for national cases.

Arnold Ruess also transferred its long-standing client relationship with Sanofi to the UPC. The team is acting as co-counsel alongside Carpmaels & Ransford and Hoffmann Eitle in the dispute against Amgen over the cholesterol-lowering drug Praluent. For its series of lawsuits concerning cabazitaxel, however, Sanofi is banking on Herbert Smith Freehills.

Furthermore, the team achieved the first ever UPC injunction in an infringement case, on behalf of Kaldewei against Bette. Arnold Ruess is proof that an international team or foreign offices are not a prerequisite to win clients at the new court. The law firm boasts sufficient experience in cross-border patent disputes, where it regularly plays a coordinating role – a task that it has also taken on in several UPC actions. For example, it coordinates the international proceedings for Nokia against HP and Amazon in the US, India, UK, and Brazil. In terms of headcount, the boutique can certainly keep up with other teams in the market. It also makes good use of its long-standing contacts with pure patent attorney firms, such as Cohausz & Florack. Its partners can also fall back on its close ties to foreign law firms to set up international teams if required.

Strengths

Litigation concerning mobile communications and IT patents.

Recommended individuals

Arno Riße (“exceptionally good at explaining even the most complex technical aspects to the court”, client), Cordula Schumacher (“simply excellent”, client), Tim Smentkowski (“what a brilliant talent – young, good and ample potential”, client)

Team

21 lawyers

Clients

Nokia against Verifone and CCV over mobile communications (settled in 2024); Nokia against Hewlett Packard and Amazon over video coding technology; Sanofi against Amgen over cholesterol-lowering drug Praluent; Franz Kaldewei against Bette over shower trays; Autostore against Ocado over warehouse robots (settled in 2023).