Lavoix expands in Italy

According to a joint press release, French outfit Lavoix recently acquired the Italian law firm Giambrocono. Lavoix and Giambrocono have worked together since the end of June.

The Italian IP firm looks back on a history of over 10 years. It has a main office in Milan and further offices in the northern Italian cities of Bergamo and Reggio Emilia. An additional office is located in Macerata in central Italy.

For Lavoix, whose origins date back to 1898, the merger is likely to be aimed primarily at Milan, where the French law firm has maintained its own office since 2017. In addtion, the central division of the Unified Patent Court began its work there on 27 June.

Like Lavoix, Giambrocono is a mixed firm of patent attorneys and lawyers. The latter specialise primarily in soft IP. Overall, Giambrocono advises on a broad spectrum of IP law. It has around 50 employees, 18 of whom are patent attorneys or lawyers. According to the EPO register, the practice mainly advises Italian companies in patent prosecution, such as the packaging machine manufacturer Movex.

Lavoix strengthens international expansion

Having opened its office in Milan seven years ago, Lavoix is thus now stepping up its pan-European expansion with this latest acquisition.

The firm announced that Giambrocono will become a subsidiary of Lavoix Hub, alongside Cabinet Lavoix. But Giambrocono will retain its name and governance structure.

Lavoix currently maintains offices in France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland. In 2009, it opened an office in Munich, the seat of the European Patent Office and two important divisions of the UPC. In 2018 the firm opened its office at the seat of the UPC Court of Appeal in Luxembourg.

Strong footprint in France

In France, the firm has offices in Grenoble, Lille, Nantes, Nice and Rennes in addition to its main office in Paris. Its French patent prosecution practice is well regarded in the technical fields of pharma, biotech, chemistry, automotive, digital communication, computer technology, electronics, and mechanics, as well as process and mechanical engineering.

While the French practice has long provided all-round advice to core clients such as ArcelorMittal, it has stepped up internal teamwork and joint litigation by patent attorneys and lawyers in recent years to aim a solid presence at the UPC.

Lavoix teams recently acted for Continental against Michelin over truck tires, for ArcelorMittal against TDI concerning houses and for Lavazza Pro in a dispute with Sielaff over beverage vending machines before national French courts. JUVE Patent is currently unaware of any pending UPC cases in which Lavoix attorneys have the lead.