JUVE Comment

Hogan Lovells’ fully integrated international patent practice has successfully ramped up its activity at the UPC, significantly closing the gap to the market leaders. The firm is increasingly translating established client relationships into proceedings before the new court. A prime example is Xiaomi; after the dispute with Panasonic was settled, the Chinese mobile phone manufacturer entrusted the team with further proceedings against Asus, ASC and Innovative Sonic.

The firm’s work for Meril, BSN and MED-EL reinforces its strong client base among medical device manufacturers, a sector that has seen a recent surge in patent litigation. Hogan Lovells also maintains a leading position in other increasingly contentious fields of technology, such as streaming technology and the solar energy sector. The team handles video coding cases for clients including Amazon and Hisense. While the dispute between Amazon and Nokia has since settled, the former has opted for Hoyng ROKH Monegier to handle its multi-jurisdictional proceedings against InterDigital at the UPC and in German courts, including anti-interim-licence injunctions. The London team at Hogan Lovells continues to represent the US client in UK proceedings.

Meanwhile, the team is making headway in disputes over solar energy technology representing Longi and Aiko. Simultaneously, the firm’s excellent contacts in the automotive industry are now paying off in UPC proceedings. Hogan Lovells is advising the two Chinese manufacturers BYD and Geely in disputes over mobile and wireless communication patents.

The firm’s European teams work consistently together on such cases, often including the German patent attorney practice. The cooperation between the German and Dutch teams is particularly strong, demonstrated by the joint work for BYD and HMD. Although German partners have often been at the helm, partners from other European offices also lead cases, for example the Amsterdam team for Advanced Bionics and Aiko. While the German practice remains the most visible, partners from other offices are increasingly making a name for themselves, such as Paris-based Stanislas Roux-Vaillard who has gained recognition for his work for Oppo subsidiary Reflection Investment against Panasonic at the Paris central division.

Strengths

Large European patent practice, litigation across a broad range of technologies, especially telecommunications, including SEPs and FRAND. Increasingly also life sciences, especially medtech.

Recommended individuals

Henrik Lehment (“best one on the team”, client; “very talented”, competitor), Andreas von Falck (“excellent and experienced”, competitor), Stanislas Roux-Vaillard (“highly skilled litigator”, competitor), Steffen Steininger (“already gained extensive experience of the system”, “brings clarity and insight to complex discussions”, competitors)

Team

50 lawyers, 10 patent attorneys, 3 dual qualified

Clients

Xiaomi against Advanced Standard Communication and Asus over mobile and telecommunications; Xiaomi against Innovative Sonic over wireless communications; Amazon (settled 2025) and Hisense against Nokia over video codec SEPs; HMD against Huawei, Navigate, and Orange over mobile technology; HMD against Fraunhofer over audio signal coding and decoding; Geely against Nokia over 4G and 5G standards; Transsion against Qualcomm over mobile communications (settled 2025); BYD against Sol IP over electric communications; BSN Medical against Advancis Medical and Brightweik over wound care technology; Med-EL against Nurotron over cochlear implants; Meril against Edwards over heart valves; Moderna against GSK over mRNA patents; Aiko against Maxeon Solar over technology for adaptation to climate change; Longi against Jinko over solar cells.