Eisenführ Speiser continues to rebuild patent team across Germany

Mixed IP firm Eisenführ Speiser has strengthened its Munich office with the mixed litigation team of lawyer Philipp Rastemborski and patent attorney Florian Henke. While Rastemborski is set to join the firm on 1 August, Henke will join at a later point. Both lawyers, who join from Meissner Bolte, complement the office’s team of three lawyers and twelve patent attorneys.

At the end of June, Eisenführ Speiser also announced the addition of Philipp Neels to its patent litigation practice in Hamburg. Neels then joined from Ampersand on 1 July. The move came months after Eisenführ lost three lawyers, including well-regarded partners Tilman Müller and Volkmar Henke, to IP firm Bardehle Pagenberg.

Eisenführ Speiser boosts team

Eisenführ now has eight lawyers and 50 patent attorneys specialising in patent litigation. In addition to suits for SEP holders, such as for regular client Philips, the team operates across a broad technical spectrum. Mechanical and electronic patents are further specialties.

Philipp Rastemborski

Both newcomers have many years of experience in major international proceedings for companies in digital technology, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.

For example, at his previous firm Philipp Rastemborski litigated for Cybex against competitors over child seats and pushchairs, as well as for Idemia against Gemalto over SIM-card technology.

Patent attorney Florian Henke was involved in the proceedings for Cybex and also acted for German discount supermarket Netto in patent litigation concerning the German deposit system, which was settled in 2021. For Belparts Group NV, he was recently involved in a patent dispute concerning electronic control valves for heating and cooling systems.

According to JUVE Patent information, the two patent litigators will not take substantial business to Eisenführ. In future, they will mainly rely on their own client contacts and business from the Eisenführ network.

More upheaval for Meissner Bolte

After hiring from the Eisenführ talent pool, at the beginning of the year competitor Bardehle Pagenberg also lured away Meissner Bolte’s best-known litigator, Tobias Wuttke. At the time, Henke and Rastemborski were part of the younger generation set to continue the firm’s litigation work. Henke recently made a name for himself as a young patent attorney specialising in patent litigation in JUVE Patent’s ‘Ones to Watch’ 2021.

Florian Henke

Although, during the upheaval, Meissner Bolte brought in experienced lawyer Michael Nieder from Klaka as of counsel, its expectations – especially with regard to the UPC – had focused on the younger generation.

Rastemborski and Henke had assumed leadership of the litigation team in the course of the reorganisation. Thus, their departure will come as another blow to the firm’s patent team.

Lacking in lawyers

While some of its 73 patent attorneys enjoy a good name for patent disputes, Meissner Bolte now lacks young lawyers visible in the market. Altogether, the litigation team consists of 14 lawyers and patent attorneys.

However, the firm also announced a restructuring of its litigation team. In addition, it won German-Korean lawyer, Alexander Son, who is president of the German-Korean Legal Society (DKJG) and was previously managing director of Nam & Nam’s European subsidiary in Munich. However, Son is not initially joining Meissner Bolte as a partner.

More stability among patent attorneys

With the exception of Florian Henke, the recent departures mainly concerned the lawyer team. On the patent attorney side, Meissner Bolte has brought in significant reinforcements since the beginning of the year. As well as Son in Munich, in Hannover the firm hired a team of patent attorneys with litigation experience from Gramm Lins at partner level. A team of associates followed.

In Düsseldorf, patent attorney Ulrich Kreutzer joined Meissner Bolte also at partner level from CBDL. He is particularly active in software and IT patents.

In February, Meissner Bolte and French firm Santarelli also announced a formal collaboration for the UPC. The firms will collaborate under the new ‘European Patent Litigators Network’ brand. Recently, Italian IP firms SIB and SIB LEX also joined EPLN.