Taylor Wessing bolsters Dutch practice with litigators from Simmons & Simmons

While Sebastien Versaevel will officially join Taylor Wessing on 1 August, Bas Berghuis van Woortman’s start date remains unconfirmed.

Berghuis van Woortman began his career in 1996 as an associate at full-service firm Stibbe, before moving to Freshfields as senior associate in 1999. He then joined Simmons & Simmons as partner in 2009. He litigates for notable clients, particularly in the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors. For example, he represented uniQure against Pfizer concerning a haemophilia gene therapy drug and Samsung Bioepis against Janssen over Stelara.

Sebastien Versaevel is a European patent attorney with an engineering degree specialising in applied physics. He also completed a course in biotechnology. Currently, he is pursuing a law degree.

Versaevel began his career as an R&D engineer at Deloitte in the R&D and government incentive division. He then moved in-house to building materials provider Unilin in April 2014, initially as a patent attorney. In 2020 he then became legal IP manager, in charge of cross-border patent and licensing disputes in Europe and overseas. His remit also encompassed patent drafting and prosecution, including global portfolio management.

Taylor Wessing opens to patent attorneys

In autumn 2020, Versaevel returned to private practice at Simmons & Simmons, focusing on patent litigation. He has worked on numerous high-profile cases in life sciences, medical technology and digital technology, often alongside Berghuis. Together they advised Bayer in a dispute with Sandoz over Xarelto, MedEl against Advanced Bionics over cochlear implants and Assia against KPN and Nokia over DSL technology.

Versaevel has also worked in international teams, including with German partner Thomas Gniadek in UPC proceedings for Network System Technologies against Texas Instruments, Audi and Volkswagen.

Versaevel will be one of few patent attorneys in Taylor Wessing’s team. While not traditionally a mixed firm, Taylor Wessing is now accepting patent attorneys specifically for UPC litigation work.

As one of the most active firms at the UPC, representing clients such as Disney against InterDigital, Ericsson against Asos, and Abbott against SiBio, Taylor Wessing continues to expand its European litigation team. The continental European practice currently has nearly 40 fee earners, mostly lawyers but including two patent attorneys in the Dutch practice.

Win some, lose some

Taylor Wessing recently recruited a team from Pinsent Masons in Paris led by French litigator Jules Fabre. The firm plans further expansion, particularly in Italy and the UK. However, it has also faced setbacks, such as the move of Dutch litigator Eelco Bergsma to Ericsson earlier this year.

At Simmons & Simmons’ Dutch practice, a team of four fee earners remains around Oscar Lamme. The firm follows a mixed approach, with the continental European team comprising 25 fee earners, including some patent attorneys or dual-qualified. The international team is active at the UPC, working for Umedwings and SiBio against Abbott Diabetes Care, for Samsung Bioepis against Alexion, and on several cases for Network Systems Technologies and Oerlikon.

The firm has seen recent staff changes, with Munich-based counsel Sebastian Horlemann joining Huawei and Amsterdam-based Johan Renes opening an office for Plasseraud, taking patent attorney Xingye Huang with him. However, last year the firm strengthened its Paris practice by hiring Abdelaziz Khatab from August Debouzy.