HGF continues PE-backed expansion in France
HGF has acquired Paris-based IP firm Cabinet Marconnet, further building out its French practice. Patent attorney Sébastien Marconnet will move to HGF's Paris office, strengthening the firm's engineering and electronics capabilities in France.
8 October 2026 by Konstanze Richter
With the acquisition of Cabinet Marconnet, HGF continues to expand its footprint in France. Sébastien Marconnet, an industrial property consultant and European patent attorney, founded the Paris-based boutique in 2012 after more than nine years at Paris IP firm Cabinet Schmit-Chretien.
Marconnet’s practice focuses on mechanics, electronics, and software. He has particular experience in automotive technologies, including powertrain systems, engine control, and emissions reduction, as well as aeronautics, aircraft cabin technologies, signal processing, and connected devices. He joined HGF’s Paris office at the beginning of October.
HGF entered the French market in February 2021, when the firm established its first French office in Rennes followed by a second office in Paris at the end of 2024. The acquisition of Cabinet Marconnet is HGF’s latest move in a broader European expansion strategy that gained momentum following a private equity investment by CBPE in 2024.
European expansion
Since the PE investment, HGF has made a series of lateral hires across its network. In April 2026, Garreth Duncan joined the London chemistry and pharma practice from D Young & Co, while Oliver Pooley strengthened the Birmingham tech and engineering team as a hire from Barker Brettell. Earlier in 2026, HGF added two life sciences partners with in-house backgrounds: Frédéric Didelon joined the Basel office from Novartis, and Fergus Manford joined the Bristol office from Leyden Labs. Most recently, Russell Thom moved to HGF from Scottish firm Murgitroyd.
In Munich, HGF added partner Felix Daul from Page White Farrer in September 2025. The move followed the departure of three patent attorneys from HGF’s Munich office in summer 2025, when Jan Robert Naefe, Markus Zoller, and Aušra Naefe left to open a Munich office for German patent attorney firm WSL.
Martyn Fish, CEO of HGF, says, “France is a strategically important market for HGF and this acquisition represents another significant milestone in our continued European growth strategy.” He adds that Marconnet “brings extensive expertise across engineering-led sectors including automotive, aerospace, electronics and connected technologies.”
According to their website HGF now operates 22 offices across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Austria, with over 100 patent attorneys, more than 60 of whom are UPC representatives.
