Gide and Regimbeau establish formal alliance for the UPC

The alliance between Gide and Regimbeau, which the firms’ partners announced yesterday at INTA in Singapore, relates exclusively to patent litigation at the UPC, as well as at national courts. However, the Gide x Regimbeau – Patent Litigation alliance does not affect soft IP, in which both firms are also highly active.

Long-time cooperation

For years, Gide and Regimbeau have cooperated on a non-exclusive basis, beginning with the dispute between Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific over stents in the 1990s. Even in recent proceedings for client Bristol-Myers Squibb against Teva, Gide litigators worked closely with Regimbeau patent attorneys.

The alliance aims to enable the quick composition of sufficiently strong teams for large lawsuits at the UPC or at national courts. The teams will be assembled from more than a dozen patent litigators at Gide, and nearly 40 patent attorneys at Regimbeau.

Frédéric Nouel

Frédéric Nouel, senior partner at Gide Loyrette Nouel, says, “Thanks to this strategic alliance with Regimbeau, we bring significant strength to the market and a global solution capable of responding to major developments in the sector to offer our clients an even more sophisticated and efficient quality of service in resolving patent disputes.”

Marriage of two giants

Both firms are among the larger patent teams in the French market, with both renowned for their respective areas of expertise.

The patent practice of national full-service law firm Gide has an exceptional reputation for litigating pharma cases. Notable originators like Sanofi, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celltrion regularly bank on the team, which also has many years of experience litigating in the French part of international patent proceedings.

For these cases, the patent practice already frequently works in cooperation with IP boutiques and national full-service firms abroad, such as De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in the Netherlands, and Arnold Ruess and Gleiss Lutz in Germany. Like other French full-service firms and IP boutiques, Gide has so far opted for non-exclusive contacts.

However, unlike competitors such as August Debouzy or Loyer & Abello, the firm has not yet taken on any dual-qualified fee earners or pure patent attorneys. Thus, joining forces with Regimbeau constitutes a more exclusive alliance, but its exclusivity is limited to patent litigation.

Gide and Regimbeau go exclusive

Regimbeau is one of the largest patent attorney firms in the French market and advises on a wide range of technologies. While competitors such as Lavoix, Plasseraud and Santarelli have built their own mixed teams in recent years with the addition of lawyers or through mergers, Regimbeau has maintained its focus on a pure patent attorney team.

The firm’s patent attorneys are renowned in many sectors, including life sciences, medical technology, mechanics and mechanical engineering, and computer technology. Well-known companies such as Becton Dickinson, Michelin, Mitsubishi, Unilever and ZTE also rely on the team for filing. In addition, the firm regularly appears in oppositions, for example for Danone, Ethypharm or Safran Aircraft.

Anne Boutaric

Anne Boutaric, partner at Regimbeau, says, “As the entry into force of the UPC is on everyone’s mind, we are particularly confident in our ability to respond together to the new challenges of this jurisdiction. Our in-depth knowledge of the French legal system and of the new UPC procedures gives us a significant competitive advantage in supporting our clients through this change.”

Next in line

Gide and Regimbeau’s announcement constitutes the third French alliance for the UPC. Following the announcement of the Dutch-German cooperation Vossius & Brinkhof UPC Litigators, the small Parisian IP boutique Amar Goussu Staub was the first French law firm to make a similar move, entering into an alliance with the British-Swedish EIP at the end of 2022. Then, in February of this year, the recently merged Santarelli Group announced a cooperation with the German outfit Meissner Bolte.

With strategic alliances forged specifically for patent disputes before the UPC, law firms are preparing to quickly set up powerful teams for extensive proceedings. In view of the strict deadline regulations at the new European court, such a capability is imperative.