JUVE Comment

Building on its success in the first two years of the UPC, where Powell Gilbert emerged as the most active non-German litigation firm, the London-based practice has launched a strategic expansion into the German market. The firm capitalised on its strong start by opening a Düsseldorf office in summer 2025, bringing in a three-strong team led by renowned litigator Andreas Kramer from Vossius & Partner.

Powell Gilbert continues to attract new UPC instructions by leveraging its strong position in pharmaceutical cases, particularly as pharma and biotech companies gain confidence in the new court. The firm quickly assumed a central role alongside Hoyng ROKH Monegier for key client BioNTech in the mRNA patent disputes against Promosome and GSK at the UPC. A team around Siddharth Kusumakar and Bryce Matthewson maintains a prominent role in the ongoing representation of Edwards Lifesciences against Meril. The firm’s impressive technical breadth is showcased through work for clients such as ParTec in supercomputer architecture, Skechers in footwear, and City Glass and Glazing.

The German team under Kramer, primarily known for mobile communications cases, currently handles UPC proceedings for Adobe and Transsion. This provides additional momentum for Powell Gilbert, which had recently shown slower development than other UK firms in this sector. The firm’s only setback was the transfer of its most significant UPC mobile communications client to date, Asus against Ericsson, to German competitor Wildanger. However, this development stands as the sole blemish in an otherwise exceptional year.

Powell Gilbert’s expansion into the German market signals a strategic shift from a coordinating UK firm to an integrated European litigation practice. The move represents a direct challenge to German competitors for future UPC cases, as Powell Gilbert now competes on their home ground for both national clients and emerging talent.

Strengths

Litigation across a broad technical spectrum, especially life sciences cases. Pan-European-coordination.

Recommended individuals

Andreas Kramer (“extremely sharp in terms of strategy”, competitor), Siddharth Kusumakar (“excellent technical expertise, commitment, can handle complex cross-border cases”, competitor), Ari Laakkonen (“outstanding intelligence and creativity, utmost commitment to the case”, competitor), Bryce Matthewson (“very convincing, deep legal and technical understanding”, competitor), Alex Wilson (“stands out for ability to anticipate trends and define forward-looking litigation strategies”, competitor),

Team

17 lawyers, 2 patent attorney

Partner moves

Andreas Kramer (from Vossius & Partner)

Clients

BioNTech against GSK and Promosome over mRNA vaccines; Edwards Lifesciences against Meril Life Sciences over transcatheter heart valves; AIM Sport Vision against Supponor over electronic perimeter advertising in sports stadiums; ParTec and BF exaQC against NVIDIA over supercomputer architecture; Roku against Dolby and Sun Patent Trust over HEVC video codecs; Adobe against KEEX over a process for verifying digital data integrity; Transsion against Sun Patent Trust and ETRI over HEVC video codecs; Skechers against Fast IP over footwear; City Glass and Glazing against Maars Partitioning Systems over a glazing system; Bhagat Group against Oerlikon Textile over textile machines.