EIP and Amar Goussu Staub form alliance for the UPC
Two more IP boutiques, British-based EIP and Paris-based Amar Goussu Staub, are joining forces for the Unified Patent Court, where they will operate as EIP Amar. Both firms are particularly known for representing clients in mobile communications.
17 November 2022 by Konstanze Richter
In the latest cross-border UPC collaboration, British-based EIP and Paris-based Amar Goussu Staub will team up to operate as EIP Amar. ©Thomas Marek/ Kavalenkava/ADOBE STOCK
The alliance between EIP and Amar Goussu Staub is the second cross-border collaboration of European patent litigation firms for the UPC to emerge within a few months. The first was the formation of the German-Dutch entity Vossius & Brinkhof UPC Litigators in late summer.
EIP has European offices in the UK, Germany and now Sweden. In addition, there is a US branch office in Denver. The French IP boutique Amar Goussu Staub is based in Paris. With offices in Düsseldorf, Paris and Stockholm, the new outfit is thus based in three important UPC locations and combines experience from different jurisdictions.
Cyrille Amar
Amar Goussu Staub’s co-founder Cyrille Amar says, “EIP Amar has experts in the key jurisdictions that will be important to the UPC, including Paris, where one of the main divisional courts and the central division will be based.”
He adds, “I’m excited for the two firms to work as an alliance advising clients as this new era for European patents dawns.”
Focus on tech litigation
Both EIP and Amar Goussu Staub have so far focused on patent litigation in the telecoms and electronics sectors.
Gary Moss
EIP regularly acts for Optis (e.g. against Apple) and IP Bridge (e.g. against Huawei). The small boutique Amar Goussu Staub counts Ericsson and LG among its clients, some of which have been with the firm for many years. Name partner Amar also represented the France-based European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) in various disputes between Philips and TCL, Xiaomi and Thales.
The IP boutiques worked together for the first time on behalf of Sonos in the dispute against Google, which EIP is leading in Germany, and Amar Goussu Staub in France.
EIP’s CEO Magnus Hallin comments, “EIP and Amar Goussu Staub have worked together on high-value patent litigation matters before, so I am delighted that we can now bring together our complementary skills and launch EIP Amar to support clients through the new UPC system.”
Expansion to life sciences
In addition to its existing close contacts to clients in the telecommunications and electronics sectors, EIP is expanding its contacts to pharmaceutical and life sciences clients through its patent attorneys in the UK and Sweden. The firm is thus laying the foundation for litigating for such companies in the future.
Patent attorneys from the UK with the appropriate certification will be allowed to represent clients before the UPC, despite Brexit. Furthermore, Swedish EIP patent attorney Inga-Lill Andersson holds a European Patent Litigation Certificate, which enables her to conduct proceedings before the UPC.
