Finnegan Henderson adds fifth IP partner in Munich from Quinn Emanuel

On 1 January, Johannes Druschel joined the US IP boutique Finnegan Henderson at its Munich office. Druschel has a focus on patent litigation and joins from Quinn Emanuel.

Johannes Druschel

The 38-year-old specialises in disputes concerning technical property rights, especially patents. His legal career began in 2016 at Baker & McKenzie, where he worked with current Finnegan partner Jochen Herr. Herr joined Finnegan in 2021, with Druschel having already moved to Quinn Emanuel in 2019.

Big ticket litigation

At Quinn Emanuel Druschel recently worked on two of the German team’s largest disputes, namely for Tesla against Broadcom/Avago over chip technology and Dexcom against Abbott over glucose-monitoring devices. Both cases are global disputes. Quinn Emanuel represents Tesla and Dexcom before both the German courts and the UPC.

Druschel was promoted to counsel at Quinn Emanuel in early 2022. At Finnegan he is now the fifth partner in Munich. The other four are also active in patent litigation. Following Druschel’s move, the team advising on IP now comprises twelve. Of these five are lawyers, four are patent attorneys and two are dual qualified in patent law.

The US IP firm opened it’s Munich office in 2022 with a team around Jochen Herr. Globally, it has eleven offices, five of which are in the US, four in Asia and two in Europe. In addition to Munich, it also has a team in London.

In April 2024 Finnegan lost a patent attorney who became partner at Munich IP-firm df-mp.

Focus UPC

Through his work for Tesla and Dexcom, Druschel brings UPC courtroom experience to the Finnegan team.

“In Johannes Druschel we are gaining an experienced litigator who will represent our clients excellently in proceedings before national courts and the UPC,” says Jochen Herr, managing partner of Finnegan in Germany.

Shortly after the UPC launch in 2023, the firm represented VusionGroup (formerly SES-Imagotech) in a case against Hanshow for infringing a patent for electronic labels. In the meantime, a team from Heuking has taken over most of the proceedings.

The firm also represented KraussMaffei as claimant against Troester over a production technique for tyres. However, the parties have now settled.

Partner Moritz Meckel represents MediaTek in a mobile communication case brought by NPE Daedalus Prime before the Hamburg local division.

US firms encroaching into Europe

Due to the increasing litigation at the UPC, US IP and full-service firms with a strong litigation focus are currently looking to Europe. Morgan Lewis also bolstered its Munich team with a new partner this month after strengthening its London IP team last autumn.

Additonal US firms such as Quinn Emanuel, Kirkland & Ellis and DLA Piper are highly visible in UPC proceedings and pan-European litigation. Jones Day and McDermott Will & Emery are also active in Europe with well-positioned teams.