JUVE Comment

DLA Piper’s European patent litigation team maintained its strong performance in UPC proceedings throughout the past year, particularly for key clients Dyson, Belkin and Alpinestars. While the major dispute between Dyson and SharkNinja reached settlement, the Munich team, led by Constanze Krenz, promptly launched a new campaign for the client against Dreame concerning hair stylers. The team secured a preliminary injunction with long-arm effect beyond UPC territories, an approach competitors praised as “creative lawyering”. The German-French team also secured new instructions from the Joint Development Foundation Projects and C2PA regarding software technology for securing data, particularly in online images.

A notable achievement was the firm’s first instruction from Microsoft in its dispute with Eyesmatch, a case originating from the US practice’s strong relationship with the software giant, though the case settled swiftly.

While the German team handles the majority of UPC cases across a broad technology spectrum, the firm’s work extends well beyond Germany. The Milan office represents core client Alpinestars concerning protective motorcycle devices. In this case, as with CAN, Milan works in close collaboration with the Munich team. Nevertheless, scope remains to enhance cooperation with teams in Amsterdam, Paris, and London, which currently appear less frequently alongside their German colleagues in UPC cases.

Despite the German team’s strong position among pharmaceutical originators, it has yet to fully capitalise on this potential in UPC proceedings. Consequently, DLA Piper has not benefited from the surge in pharmaceutical and biotech cases at the UPC over the past year. A key strategic priority will be leveraging existing client relationships to establish a stronger presence in this increasingly lucrative UPC segment.

Strengths

UPC litigation regarding electronics.

Recommended individuals

Constanze Krenz 

Team

18 lawyers

Clients

Dyson against Dreame and others over hair stylers; Dyson against SharkNinja over handheld vacuum cleaners (settled 2025); Belkin against Philips over SEP for wireless chargers; Alpinestar and Motocard Bike against Dainese over protective motorcycle devices; CAN and Airxcel Europe against Truma Gerätetechnik over heat exchanger (settled 2025); Microsoft against Eyesmatch over virtual mirror technology (settled 2025); Joint Development Foundation Projects and C2PA against KeeeX over a process for verifying digital data integrity.