Sandoz wins accolade In-house Team of the Year for Patent Germany

The nominees for In-house Team of the Year for Patent spanned a range of sectors, from life sciences and generics to telecommunications and access solutions. But it is generics that won the day.

Three years after separating from Novartis, Sandoz’s patent department has developed into a formidable team. Operating from London and Holzkirchen, it manages successful patent litigation across Europe concerning blockbuster medicines, paving the way for the market entry of generics and biosimilars.

One example is Sandoz’s victory in fending off a PI concerning their generic version of Bayer’s blockbuster ophthalmic drug Eylea in Germany. Bayer and Regeneron ended up withdrawing their PI application against Sandoz at the Higher Regional Court Munich.

Julia Pike, Head of IP at Sandoz, receives the JUVE Trophy from Friedrich Emmerling of BDPE. ©JUVE

Department head Julia Pike is shaping developments in the life sciences market far beyond individual cases. She provides impetus with an initiative against delaying tactics involving the filing of divisional applications for pharmaceutical patents. Through a study – conducted in collaboration with the University of Brussels – Sandoz is laying the groundwork for potential reforms.

Clifford Chance has something to celebrate too

Over the past four years, Clifford Chance has demonstrated how to successfully rebuild a practice and received the JUVE Award as Patent Firm of the Year. Since the arrival of the renowned partners Tobias Hessel and Stefan Richter, it has developed a formidable litigation practice that is now regarded as one of the leading firms for SEP patent disputes.

The close relationship between the two partners and client Huawei forms the basis for new instructions, including against Meta and MediaTek. Other members of the Access Advance Pool also placed their trust in the team during a high-profile series of lawsuits against Meta concerning video coding. The practice has also shown that it can represent both sides of SEP disputes, acting for patent users such as Xiaomi and, most recently, TP-Link.

Sophia Zafar from sponsor Adamson & Partner presents the trophy for the JUVE Award for Patent Firm of the Year to Clifford Chance partner Tobias Hessel. ©JUVE

At the same time, Clifford Chance is skilfully leveraging its strong connections with life sciences clients to further expand its litigation practice. One example of this is its representation of Pfizer in extensive UPC proceedings against Promosome concerning mRNA patents. By expanding beyond mobile technology and video coding, the young patent team has quickly caught up with market leaders.

This award is also the result of intensive research conducted throughout the year by the JUVE Patent editorial team. To find out which other firms are leading the German patent litigation market, read JUVE Patent’s latest ranking for Germany. (Co-author: Laura King)