Simmons & Simmons boosts Paris team with electronics specialist partner

Dual-qualified lawyer and patent attorney Abdelaziz Khatab (41) has joined Simmons & Simmons as a partner in Paris, following nine years at French full-service firm, August Debouzy. His addition will strengthen the Simmons dispute resolution team, with his practice focusing largely on patent litigation in the telecommunication, electronics, medical technology and automotive sectors.

Khatab brings SEP expertise

Although maintaining a mixed practice, Khatab has extensive experience in acting for clients in standard-essential patent cases. Examples include acting for Thales against Philips and ETSI over FRAND licensing, for Huawei as a co-defendant of Télécom, Orange and SFR against Intellectual Ventures over SEPs for DSL technology, and for Xiaomi in its now-settled campaign against Philips.

Previously, Khatab was part of the team representing co-litigant Huawei in the major mobile phone dispute between Intellectual Ventures and Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR. He also participated in Xiaomi’s defence in the FRAND and SEP case against Philips and led the team for Nokia in French proceedings in the pan-European dispute against Assia and Orange over internet service technology, where Nokia acted as Orange’s supplier. On the medical device side, he has represented Medtronic and Stryker at the EPO.

As a French and European patent attorney, Abdelaziz’s work has included drafting and prosecuting patent applications, and opposing and defending patents at the EPO. He has also acted as an expert to bailiffs during the saisie-contrefaçon process. Upon leaving August Debouzy, he held the position of counsel. In 2022, JUVE Patent recognised Abdelaziz Khatab as one of its ‘Ones to Watch’ in the French patent market.

Movement in Paris

Now Simmons & Simmons has two patent-specialist lawyers in its Paris office, with François Jonquères the first partner there. Altogether, the firm has 24 patent-specialist partners across its Munich, Düsseldorf, Paris, Amsterdam, London and Milan offices. Prior to Khatab, the firm’s most recent hire was Machteld Hiemstra in April 2023. Hiemstra returned to the firm’s regulatory team in Amsterdam following a short spell at Pinsent Masons.

Prior to joining August Debouzy in 2015, Khatab worked for four years at each of the two largest French patent attorney firms, Santarelli and Plasseraud. Both are highly renowned in oppositions. Khatab, who is a qualified engineer, began his career in-house as a patent engineer at the listed French automotive supplier, Valeo.

August Debouzy has 21 patent-specialist lawyers and patent attorneys, with three patent partners: the highly regarded Grégoire Desrousseaux, Lionel Martin and François Pochart. In January 2023, the firm also hired Anaïs Pallut as a senior associate, and has recently hired two engineers as additions to the patent team. JUVE Patent identified Pallut as a ‘Ones to Watch’ in its French ranking for 2024.

Electronics boost

Khatab joins Simmons & Simmons just shy of one year since the Unified Patent Court opened its doors. He is a registered UPC representative. Thus, with a practice so concentrated on electronics and tech, he will lend sought-after expertise to a practice which is well-positioned for cases at the Paris central division.

Speaking exclusively to JUVE Patent, Thomas Gniadek, partner at the Munich office of Simmons & Simmons and co-head of the firm’s patent cross-border group, says, “Simmons & Simmons is very proud to have secured Abdelaziz Khatab, as he’s currently one of the most sought-after patent lawyers in the Paris market.”

He says, “With the city hosting the UPC central division responsible for electronics and tech work, we are especially pleased that we can bolster our expertise in these areas. Abdelaziz’s dual qualification is also an asset to our own mixed practice.”

Overall, Simmons & Simmons is currently one of the most active firms at the UPC. Partner Kevin Mooney is a ‘founding father’ of the project and the firm has long positioned itself to clients as embedding the UPC deep into its litigation strategy. Recent cases include representing SiBio Technology and Umedwings against Abbott over glucose-monitoring devices and acting for Network System Technologies against Qualcomm in one of the UPC’s first NPE suits.