Herbert Smith Freehills boosts practice with tech litigator from EIP

Florian Schmidt-Bogatzky (53) was previously a partner in the German practice of mixed IP boutique EIP, which focuses heavily on patent litigation in the mobile communications sector, particularly regarding SEP and FRAND. He was one of four partners in the Düsseldorf office.

The German practice of Herbert Smith Freehills, which is headquartered in the UK, is also based in Düsseldorf. It comprises four lawyers, led by partner Ina vom Feld, with a strong focus on disputes for pharmaceutical originators. Schmidt-Bogatzky marks the first significant reinforcement in the German tech sector.

Florian Schmidt-Bogatzky

Schmidt-Bogatzky’s primary focus is the technology sector, including litigation concerning semiconductors, telecommunications and wi-fi. His clients are primarily mobile phone companies, chip producers and LED companies. His most prominent client is chip manufacturer Broadcom/Avago. He also recently represented Sonos in an intense battle against Google, which has since settled.

Schmidt-Bogatzky is not only a German lawyer but also a UPC representative. At the new court, he has been lead counsel in Broadcom’s litigation against Tesla and Realtek Semiconductors. Both cases have settled. He also advises Broadcom in its dispute against Netflix, which is pending at the regional courts in Hamburg and Munich, as well as at the German Federal Patent Court.

Schmidt-Bogatzky brought the relationship with main client Broadcom from Bird & Bird when he joined EIP in August 2019. He will once again take this client to his new firm.

Familiar faces

At Herbert Smith Freehills, Schmidt-Bogatzky will reunite with a former colleague from Bird & Bird. He and Ina vom Feld worked together in the firm’s Düsseldorf patent team for several years.

Herbert Smith Freehills has strong patent litigation teams in Italy and London, which also focus heavily on pharmaceutical disputes. The firm also maintains a patent team in Paris.

At the UPC, an international team advises Sanofi in the first major originator-generics dispute concerning prostate cancer drug cabazitaxel/Jevtana. The firm has a second UPC case for Games Global and MT RealTime against Playtech over online gaming software.

“Germany is the largest and most strategic forum of choice for patent disputes in Europe, attracting claimants from all over the world, and it is also a key UPC seat for hi-tech patent litigation,” says Herbert Smith Freehills’ Laura Orlando, patent partner in Italy and joint global head of IP.

She adds, “In Florian we are adding a highly experienced tech patent litigator who will enable us to extend our reputation for handling complex, multi-jurisdictional and high-value intellectual property matters, not only in Germany but across Europe.”

Strong SEP focus

Like the London headquarters, EIP’s German practice has a strong focus on tech disputes. The London and German teams have frequently represented NPE clients such as Unwired Planet and Conversant in prominent SEP proceedings against mobile phone manufacturers. A team from the London office currently represents Optis in a major SEP dispute against Apple.

Following Schmidt-Bogatzky’s departure, the German team now consists of three partners and three associates. Christof Höhne leads the practice.

Höhne is currently conducting UPC proceedings for Labrador Diagnostics against bioMérieux over diagnostic devices. He is also involved in a UPC case for CurioBioscience, co-counselling with Carpmaels & Ransford, against 10x Genomics over a method and product for localised or spatial detection of nucleic acid in a tissue sample.