JUVE Comment

Cohausz & Florack was well prepared for the start of the UPC thanks to its plethora of renowned partners boasting many years of experience in cross-border litigation across a wide array of technologies. The strategy paid off. Now the outfit is now one of the most active patent attorney firms at the new court. The Düsseldorf IP boutique holds fast to its proven model of cooperating with external law firms with which it maintains long-established contacts. Well-known regular clients such as Nokia are now relying on this combination at the UPC. The firm is representing the Finnish company against Mala (with Bird & Bird) and Hewlett Packard (with Arnold Ruess). Cohausz & Florack has already received much praise for its UPC work, with one client emphasising the “excellent support of the very helpful team”.

While proceedings involving mobile communications and network patents have so far dominated the team’s work here, it is also demonstrating its expertise in a wide array of other technical fields. For example, litigation concerning e-cigarettes (for NJOY) or medical 3D-printing technology (for CEAD). The team is also advising these clients alongside lawyers from McDermott Will & Emery and Taylor Wessing. In addition, the patent attorneys bring their combined expertise in life sciences to the table for EuroBio in its biotech dispute with GXD Bio Corporation. However, the appointment of Arwed Burrichter as a technical judge at the UPC does open the door to potential conflicts of interest, even if these have not yet become apparent.

Strengths

Litigation related to mobile communications for SEP holders. Litigation regarding software and electronics.

Recommended individuals

Jan Ackermann (“very experienced in litigation”, competitor), Christoph Walke (“pleads like a lawyer, definitely a top recommendation for the UPC”, client; “top-notch strategist”, competitor)

Team

30 patent attorneys

Clients

Nokia against Mala over connectivity fault management in networks; Nokia against Hewlett Packard over video coding technology; Innovative Sonic against Lenovo and Motorola over mobile communications, including SEPs; Stellantis against Broadcom/Avago over semiconductors; NJOY against Juul and VMR over e-cigarettes; CEAD against Bego Medical over medical 3D-printing technology; Neo Wireless against Toyota over wireless communication (settled 2024); Ocado against Autostore over robotic warehouse system (settled 2023) (all public knowledge).