Ones to Watch Germany 2025: Jonas Smeets

JUVE Patent recently carried out extensive research in the German patent market, culminating in the publication of the German patent rankings and including Jonas Smeets as one of the current ‘Ones to Watch Germany’.

Most young patent lawyers today build their careers in patent litigation through clear specialisation, for example as experts in pharmaceutical or SEP cases. Jonas Smeets has a somewhat broader specialisation. He initially followed family tradition and completed a banking apprenticeship, before switching to law. Today, both electronic and mechanical patents are part of the Bird & Bird counsel’s litigation repertoire, as are FRAND issues, preserving evidence and bank guarantees.

Smeets is also very active outside the courtroom. Here his interests lie with his family and children, as well as football. He is involved with Essen-based club TUS Holsterhausen as a coach and board member. The patent lawyer champions issues that are only just finding their way into a few sports clubs: child welfare and environmental protection. Jonas Smeets is socially committed and proud that his club received the City of Essen’s environmental award for this commitment in 2021.

Via the USA to Bird & Bird

Smeets talks also about his work with great enthusiasm. He has been working in Bird & Bird’s Düsseldorf patent team since January 2020. “My first contact with Bird & Bird was during my LL.M. studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the USA”, says Jonas Smeets. The contact never broke off, although he initially decided to work for another law firm as a research assistant and trainee lawyer. But Bird & Bird kept in touch with the young lawyer, who had already gained experience in IP law during his studies. It was only after his second state examination in 2020 that Smeets startet working alongside Bird & Brid partner Felix Rödiger. He was promoted to counsel in May 2025. According to Smeets, partnership is firmly in his sights.

As junior associate Smeets worked on his first cases for the car manufacturer Valeo. He initially advised on LED headlights – an exciting subject matter. “In terms of patent law, light is a complex matter because the physics of light are incredibly multifaceted. Light behaves simultaneously as an electromagnetic wave and as a particle – the so-called dualism of light. The interaction of various mechanical and optical components and the interaction with matter can also play a role,” says Smeets.

From the BGH to the UPC

Smeets’ day-to-day work quickly turned to even more complex car parts such as autonomous driving systems, for example parking assistants. A case involving this technology took Smeets all the way to the German Federal Court of Justice in his second year as a lawyer. On behalf of Valeo, he fought against TTE over ultrasonic transducer technology. “Taking a case all the way to the Federal Court at such an early stage in my career and working with Christian Rohnke was impressive”, says Jonas Smeets. Rohnke is one of the best-known Federal Court barristers.

The Bird & Bird team still advises Valeo today, including before the Unified Patent Court. However, another UPC case in which Smeets is involved on behalf of Renault requires diferent technologies. Bird & Bird is fighting against chip manufacturer Broadcom/Avago over so-called “automotive Ethernet” applications.

Automotive and much more

His current UPC activities show just how diverse Smeets’ work is. Together with other Bird & Bird lawyers, he is defending the manufacturers of entertainment devices such as televisions, TCL, LG and Hisense against Corning concerning the chemical composition of safety glass. Smeets is of course also proficient in FRAND law. Two years ago, he was haviliy involved in Huawei’s battle againt Amazon over WiFi routers in Germany.

In his first five years in the profession, the now 36-year-old lawyer built up two specialities. A feat not every lawyer can claim. His banking experience, for example, gives him a head start. “I have a good basic knowledge of reading company balance sheets, but also when it comes to bank guarantees in infringement and enforcement proceedings, for example for legal costs, enforcement and FRAND collateral”, says Smeets. He also familiarised himself with proceedings to preserve evidence at the interface with copyright law and trade secret protection. “As a lawyer, you need certain niches to stand out from your colleagues”, Smeets says.