JUVE Comment

As a predominantly national patent firm where patent attorneys constitute the majority of fee earners, Meissner Bolte’s mixed litigation practice maintains a solid presence in UPC proceedings. The firm’s patent attorneys are involved in several separate revocation actions at the central division, notably for Bitzer concerning a cold chain monitoring patent and for inventor Manuela Hoffmann regarding a woodworking machine.

Over the past two years, Meissner Bolte’s lawyer team has stabilised following staff changes. It now handles an increasing number of cases alongside the firm’s patent attorneys. The litigation practice is experiencing its most rapid growth in UPC work. The firm represents Volta Energy Solutions in a dispute over battery technology and has represented CJ CheilJedang in biotech inspection proceedings at The Hague local division. The firm has also successfully transferred work from long-standing clients such as Brita, concerning water filters, and Cybex, regarding child safety seats, to the UPC. The technical breadth of the practice is further demonstrated by Meissner Bolte’s defence work for Vantiva and Arçelik/Beko in electronics and SEP cases.

Early 2026 will see the lawyer team strengthened by experienced patent litigator Wolfgang Götz, who joins from Klaka. His arrival may help the team establish a more prominent market position. At the time of publication, it was unclear which UPC clients would follow him to the firm.

Beyond staff changes, Meissner Bolte has developed an ongoing cooperation with French firm Santarelli, Italian firm SIB LEX and Dutch firm Arnold & Siedsma. Under the EPLN brand, these four firms were early movers in UPC collaboration compared to similar national competitors. However, their partnership is not as integrated as that between German firm Vossius & Partner and Dutch firm Brinkhof, whose lawyers jointly represent clients in UPC courtrooms. Instead, the EPLN firms share knowledge and develop expertise specific to the jurisdiction of each firm, as evidenced in most of Meissner Bolte’s current UPC cases and those of SIB Lex (for Dainese) and Arnold & Siedsma (for Hyler and Maars Partitioning Systems). For now, all four firms continue to operate independently.

Strengths

UPC litigation with patent attorneys for innovative midsized companies.

Team

5 lawyers, 48 patent attorneys

Partner moves

Wolfgang Götz (from Klaka in 2026)

Clients

Brita against AquaShield and Wessper over drinking-water filters; Cybex against Wonderland Nurserygoods over child seats; Beko and Arçelik against Dolby International over audio decoding standard; Beko and Arçelik against BSH Hausgeräte over electric household appliances; Bitzer Electronics against Carrier Corporation over cold chain monitoring; Vantiva Technologies against Atlas Global over wi-fi standard; Volta Energy Solutions against SK Nexilis over battery technology; Manuela Hofmann against Essetre Holding over woodworking machine; CJ CheilJedang against Eppen, Daesang and others in inspection proceedings over microorganisms.