Arnold & Siedsma becomes fifth member of the EPLN network

EPLN is a network of European IP boutiques. German IP firm Meissner Bolte and French firm Santarelli launched the network in early 2023. In May, Italian IP firms SIB and SIB LEX also joined the network. In Italy patent attorneys and lawyers may not work in the same firm, hence the network has two members from Italy.

The fifth outfit to join the network, Arnold & Siedsma, is a full-service mixed IP firm consisting of patent attorneys and lawyers. In the Netherlands alone, 28 patent attorneys and 3 lawyers work in patent law. The patent attorneys in particular are known for litigation work. Throughout Europe, the firm is active in all areas of IP with 51 fee earners. Five of them are lawyers. Ten of its offices are located in Belgium and the Netherlands.

In addition, the firm has an office in Munich, the main location of the European Patent Office. Arnold & Siedsma also has an office in the immediate vicinity of the UPC local division in The Hague, where there is also an EPO outpost.

Response to the UPC

With the office in The Hague, EPLN has added another important location to its European set-up – especially with regard to the UPC. Through its member firms the network has so far covered the central division locations in Paris, Munich and Milan, as well as the local divisions in these three cities and in Düsseldorf and Hamburg. Founding member Meissner Bolte also conducts proceedings in Mannheim.

Kay Rupprecht

The firms established the network primarily in response to the challenges posed to patent firms by the launch of the Unified Patent Court in June.

The EPLN members know each other from previous collaborations. For example, Meissner Bolte and Arnold & Siedsma have worked together since 2019 on a large multi-national patent litigation case in the field of personal hygiene products. Kay Rupprecht, partner at Meissner Bolte, says the case involves multiple infringement proceedings.

“The cooperation with the EPLN firms opens up more opportunities for Arnold & Siedsma to handle larger cases. In pan-European patent disputes, especially in UPC cases, we also benefit from the knowledge transfer between the firms,” says Michiel Rijsdijk, an Amsterdam-based litigation partner at Arnold & Siedsma.

He adds, “We believe that litigation before the UPC requires knowledge of the national law of the member states of the UPC, and the EPLN offers us and our clients the advantage of working with IP law firms that are familiar with IP issues of national law in Germany, France and Italy.”

Michiel Rijsdijk

All five member firms are united by their positions as nationally independent law firms with mixed approaches. While they will all operate under the EPLN brand, they are keen to emphasise that they will continue to act independently.

Mixing expertise

However, the cooperation does extend to knowledge-sharing and developing expertise specific to the jurisdiction of each firm. The firms are also considering cooperation on UPC cases, but they would then conduct the proceedings under their own names.

Meissner Bolte for example filed a nullity suit at the UPC for Bitzer against a patent owned by Carrier Corporation early on. Arnold & Siedsma litigation partner Michiel Rijsdijk, together with Belgian law firm Altius, is conducting PI proceedings for inventor Jozef Nelissen against OrthoApnea at the Belgian local division over a medical device.

The EPLN firms are thus taking a different approach than, for example, their German and Dutch rivals Vossius & Partner and Brinkhof. These conduct UPC proceedings jointly under the umbrella brand Vossius & Brinkhof UPC Litigators.

In a joint press release, the EPLN members emphasised that, beyond cooperation on UPC issues, the network “pools competences beyond national borders with a view to filing, protecting and enforcing patents and providing the best service and tailored solutions to clients”.