JUVE Comment

Kather Augenstein has been strategically preparing for the UPC for years, and this immediately paid off when it quickly became one of the firms with the most cases. Unlike some of its competitors, the law firm’s strategy had been to position itself, not through targeted acquisitions of partners, but through clever marketing and networking with international law firms.

With core clients such as Panasonic and Ortovox opting to file lawsuits at the new court straight away, Miriam Kiefer, Christof Augenstein and Christopher Weber were highly visible in the UPC courtrooms – with demonstrable success.

A team led by Kiefer secured one of the first PIs and permanent injunctions for Ortovox. For Panasonic, Augenstein and Weber recently appeared against Oppo and Xiaomi in the first major FRAND case at the Mannheim local division. Kather Augenstein filed the UPC and parallel German cases together with two German patent attorney firms, which turned out to be the biggest mobile communications dispute of the year. Internationally, Kather Augenstein worked with the London law firm Bristows for Panasonic. However, the parties are currently negotiating a settlement.

Kather Augenstein can focus on UPC proceedings in this segment and of this magnitude thanks to the loyalty of its key clients. On the defendant side, the firm is representing long-standing client Ericsson against lawsuits from Lenovo. However, Ericsson has so far relied on Taylor Wessing for its own UPC actions. The medical device manufacturer Advance Bionics also proved its loyalty by relying on the law firm in national proceedings and now at the UPC. Yet it was not only established relationships that helped Kather Augenstein become one of the most active law firms at the UPC. Ona Patents, Roche Diabetes and Omnipack also retained the team for the first time. Due to the large number of cases, Kather Augenstein is active across a broad technical spectrum. What is more, it is accomplishing all this with a rather small team compared to Bardehle Pagenberg or Bird & Bird. The market is already wondering how long Kather Augenstein will be able to maintain such a high track record without moderate growth. Nevertheless, clients are satisfied with the firm’s UPC expertise and collaboration between partners.

Strengths

Litigation across a broad technical spectrum, especially mobile communications and medical devices.

Recommended individuals

Christof Augenstein (“confident appearance for Panasonic in the courtroom, he had the court well in hand”, client; “leading UPC litigator, unbelievably knowledgeable in UPC matters”, competitor), Miriam Kiefer (“great collaborator and good at suggesting practical solutions for the client”, competitor), Christopher Weber (“good practical coordination of UPC cases”, competitor)

Team

15 lawyers

Clients

Panasonic against Oppo and Xiaomi over patents relevant for the WCDMA and LTE standards (stayed in 2024); Ona Patents against Apple and Google over mobile communictaions; Ericsson against Lenovo/Motorola over mobile communications; Stellantis and Opel against Avago over connected cars patents; Ortovox against Mammut over avalanche rescue devices; Roche Diagnostics and Roche Diabetes Care against Tandem Diabetes Care and Vital Aire over insulin pumps; Advanced Bionics against MED-EL over cochlear implants; Omipac against Brødrene Hartmann over egg packaging technology.