JUVE Comment

With its mixed set-up and renowned teams for patent litigation in several key UPC countries, Bird & Bird quickly established itself as one of the most active representatives at the European court. The team seamlessly translated solid client relationships across its various offices, such as those with Dexcom, Huawei, Nokia and Valeo, into proceedings before the UPC. Often, Bird & Bird is already active in parallel national proceedings for these clients, for example for Edwards Lifesciences, which the firm is representing against Meril in Germany, the Netherlands, and France.

While many of these initial cases have now ended or settled, such as those for Dexcom, Celltrion, NanoString/Bruker and Valeo, the vast experience the team gained from these proceedings has led to a constant stream of further instructions. For example, long-standing client Huawei retained the team alongside Clifford Chance for a dispute with MediaTek. Menarini also relies on Bird & Bird in its disputes with Abbott and Roche over glucose-monitoring systems.

The work for these clients makes Bird & Bird one of the few law firms that is strongly and visibly active at the UPC in both mobile communications (including SEP/FRAND) and life sciences — particularly the highly competitive medtech field. In addition, the team advises on a wide range of technologies — from sports equipment (such as for Mammut and Cardo) through automotive (such as for Valeo and Goodyear) and solar (for JingAo), to chemical and mechanical patents (for Huntsman and Husqvarna).

In many proceedings, Bird & Bird deliberately deploys international teams. For example, lawyers from France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany have joined forces for Menarini in its dispute with Abbott, while offices in the UK and Netherlands are cooperating for GlaxoSmithKline. Only Taylor Wessing has so far managed to rival Bird & Bird in its ability to deploy international teams in multiple UPC cases at such a consistent level. Bird & Bird also banks on mixed teams, for example in representing GlaxoSmithKline, JingAo and Menarini – another aspect often favoured by clients.

Strengths

UPC litigation regarding medical technology, mobile communications and life sciences. Interoffice cooperation across one of the strongest European IP practices.

Recommended individuals

Anne-Charlotte Le Bihan, Christian Harmsen (“keeps a good overview and summarises complex matters for judges in a simple and understandable way”, client; “strong expertise in SEPs and FRAND, also in UPC matters”, competitor), Boris Kreye (“excellent work, won every case, gets stuck into each case and always finds the key points”, client; “very experienced with great instincts, very strong in court”, competitor), Matthias Meyer (“pragmatic litigator”, competitor), Christopher Maierhöfer (“great presence with the right amount of assertiveness in court”, client; “good representation of clients, pragmatic approach and deep technological knowledge”, competitor), Oliver Jüngst (“exceptionally professional, with an unwavering commitment to high standards”, competitor), Moritz Schroeder (“very good in pleadings”, competitor), Jonas Smeets

Team

57 lawyers, 20 patent attorneys, 1 dual qualified

Partner moves

Anna Wolters-Höhne (from A&O Shearman), Ana Rita Paínho (from Sérvulo & Associados)

Clients

Menarini Diagnostics against Hoffmann-La Roche over glucose-monitoring devices; Edwards Lifesciences against Meril Life Science over heart valves; GSK against Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer over mRNA patents; bioMérieux against Qiagen over a cell mediated immune response assay; Huawei against HFI Innovation, Netgear (settled 2025), and MediaTek (settled 2025) over mobile communications and SEPs; Nokia against Hisense, Acer, and Asus over video coding; KPN against Oppo and Oleading over network access technology; Yangtze Memory Technologies against Micron Technology over memory devices and circuits; Husqvarna against Positec over a robotic work tool system; JingAo Solar against Astronergy and Chint Solar over solar cell panels; Maxeon Solar against Aiko Energy over backside contact solar cells; Cardo Systems against Shenzhen Asmax Infinite Technology over fastening devices for head-protective gear; Canon against Katun and General Plastics over developer replenishing system; Black Sheep against HL Display over a system for securing shelf accessories; Goodyear against Michelin over variable surface area tyre tread; Zhejiang Fluorine Chemical against Solvay over vinylidene fluoride copolymers.