The exodus at Klaka continues
Following earlier announcements of departures to CMS Hasche Sigle and Ampersand in July, long-established Munich IP firm Klaka continues to haemorrage partners. JUVE Patent learned almost all remaining partners are jumping ship, including two to Meissner Bolte. Only one partner will remain at Klaka.
2 September 2025 by Mathieu Klos
According to JUVE Patent sources, patent lawyer Wolfgang Götz (60) and trademark and design lawyer Stefan Abel (57) are moving from Klaka to mixed IP law firm Meissner Bolte. Another partner duo will join Lubberger Lehment in January: leading German trademark lawyer Ralf Hackbarth (64) and soft IP specialist Carola Onken (46).
Klaka announced in late June that patent lawyer Stefan Eck and an associate would move to Munich IP law firm Ampersand. Simultaneously, CMS Hasche Sigle announced it had recruited Constantin Kurtz as a partner for its patent practice.
This left Klaka’s patent practice facing an uncertain future, with Wolfgang Götz the only remaining partner in patent law, supported by of counsel Olaf Giebe.
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- Wolfgang Götz
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- Stefan Abel
Uncertain future
As it stands, six of Klaka’s seven equity partners are now leaving the firm, which was founded in 1979. Only Oliver Rauscher remains as a partner in soft IP. His plans are unknown.
The already small team of associates is shrinking further: one associate from Hackbarth’s team is moving to Shanghai at the end of the year, while another associate moved to D Young earlier in the year. This means only one associate specialising in trademark law will remain at Klaka.
The firm currently has 13 lawyers in total. In recent years, it has failed to implement generational change. Carola Onken’s appointment as partner in 2016 was the only such promotion in the past decade. Since then, according to the commercial register, five partners have left the partnership due to age, although some continue to work as of counsel.
Double litigation boost for Meissner
With Götz and Abel, Meissner Bolte gains two partners with strong litigation expertise. The collaboration with Meissner Bolte patent attorneys should particularly interest Götz, who has a reputation primarily as a patent litigation specialist. His key clients include Chinese manufacturer of electronic components Degson and AVM Computersystem. Götz recently represented the latter in its dispute with Huawei.
Meissner Bolte’s most prominent patent litigator, Tobias Wuttke, moved to competitor Bardehle Pagenberg in 2023. There were further departures before the UPC launch. However, Meissner Bolte subsequently stabilised its patent litigation team, for example with Michael Nieder. Of counsel Nieder and Götz are old acquaintances, as Nieder also worked at Klaka for many years.
Meanwhile, younger partners have taken the helm at Meissner Bolte and have helped the firm make a strong start at the UPC, despite the previous turbulence.
Abel is an experienced trademark and design law specialist. His reputation in the market is mainly linked to his work for luxury brand Longchamp, which he has represented for many years in numerous counterfeiting cases involving handbags. (Co-author: Christine Albert)
