CMS bolsters Dutch team with litigator from NautaDutilh

For a long time, Dutch law firm CMS Derks Star Busmann played little role in Dutch patent litigation. Although the firm has an eleven-strong IP team, it rarely appeared in patent litigation at the District Court The Hague. Now it has hired patent litigator Jeroen Boelens.

Boelens was most recently a partner at NautaDutilh and is now continuing his career at CMS. Two associates have moved with him.

Jeroen Boelens

Boelens took over NautaDutilh’s patent practice during challenging times, after renowned IP litigation partner Anne Marie Verschuur moved to national rival De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in 2023. The firm promoted Boelens to partner in 2022, leaving him to manage the patent practice alone one year later. That same year, JUVE Patent named him as one of three Ones to Watch in Dutch patent litigation.

Boelens maintained a broad technical patent litigation practice focusing on pharmaceutical disputes. He represented Galenicum Health against Insud Pharma regarding diabetes drug sitagliptin, while also providing transactional advice.

At CMS, he will primarily draw on the international network and his client base. The CMS network has offices in most UPC locations across Europe and is now filling an important gap in the Netherlands. The various CMS litigation teams within the network can draw on the patent prosecution practice, which operates as a subsidiary of UK firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang.

German practice grows

Earlier this summer, CMS strengthened its German practice as part of its European UPC strategy. Stephan Dorn joined the Düsseldorf team from Freshfields, while Constantin Kurtz will join from Klaka by the end of the year at the latest.

Dorn specialises in SEP and FRAND litigation and was part of the Freshfields team that advised Continental and Lenovo in Nokia’s mobile communications lawsuits. Since the UPC launch, he has become increasingly prominent, acting as lead counsel in Netgear’s dispute with Huawei over wi-fi patents and for HP against Nokia over video-coding patents.

At his current firm Klaka, Kurtz also focuses on SEP litigation and frequently represents Chinese mobile phone manufacturers. He represents Oppo in its dispute with KPN, while Xiaomi is another client. At the UPC, Kurtz is lead counsel for Coenergia, Memodo, PowerDeal, Libra Energy and VDH Solar in a dispute with Maxeon over solar technology.

NautaDutilh rebuilds

Following the departures of Jeroen Boelens and Anne Marie Verschuur, NautaDutilh currently has no prominent patent litigators in its ranks. According to its website, a senior associate from the still-strong IP team currently handles patent matters.

In November 2024, the Dutch national firm hired Thijs van Aerde from full-service firm Houthoff. Although a dedicated IP specialist, he focuses on Supreme Court proceedings, such as representing Janssen in its ongoing battle with Samsung Bioepis. The SPC waiver case is currently pending at the Dutch Supreme Court.