Witte Weller grows with two specialist mechanical engineering partners

Lukas Klement (47) from Cartagena and Dieter Späth (59) from Abacus joined Witte Weller & Partner on 1 January 2022 as partners. At the same time, the firm also appointed patent attorney Sophia Zielinski as partner. With the new additions, the team grows to 21 patent attorneys, of whom 18 are partners.

Witte Weller has new additions

Lukas Klement

Patent attorney Lukas Klement, who has an academic background in mechanical engineering, focuses on robotics, manufacturing technology and furniture construction. He began his career in 2003 at Stuttgart-based patent attorney firm Ruff Wilhelm Beier Dauster & Partner, which elevated him to partner in 2008.

In 2016, Klement founded the firm Cartagena with Michael Eberle, who specialises in chemistry. Clients included regional medium-sized companies, as well as large companies such as battery manufacturer Varta and packaging manufacturer Aptar. Cartagena advised the clients primarily on filing and prosecution.

On the other hand, the team was seen less frequently in litigation. An example is its work, alongside law firm Arnold Ruess, for Varta in a dispute against Samsung over button cells. However, the opponents settled in summer 2020.

Dieter Späth was previously a partner at Abacus in Nagold, near Stuttgart. He also has a focus on mechanical engineering. After an initial stint at Stuttgart-based patent attorney firm Kohler Schmid und Partner, he joined Ott Klocke & Partner in 1995, which later changed its name to Abacus after the withdrawal of name partner Elmar Ott. Now, following the recent retirement of other former name partner Peter Klocke, Dieter Späth has joined Witte Weller & Partner.

Dieter Späth

Behind the referral

In cooperation with Swiss patent attorney Carl Otto Barth, Abacus advised clients in southern Germany and Switzerland, among other countries. The firm’s filing and prosecution clients included Swiss Leister AG, Fischerwerke, and Phoenix Contact.

The latter recently attracted attention through its dispute with Harting and the resulting referral by the Regional Court Munich to the CJEU.

However, in infringement proceedings, the client relies on the patent attorneys of Maikowski & Ninnemann. Späth will continue to work from Nagold in the northern Black Forest, which now acts as Witte Weller’s second location. He will, among other things, expand advice to regional medium-sized businesses.

With the two new additions, Witte Weller is strengthening its advice on patents in mechanical and plant engineering, as well as robotics and electrical engineering. Furthermore, the Stuttgart team is especially strong in the life sciences sector.

It mainly conducts European Patent Office oppositions, nullity suits and infringement proceedings for medium-sized companies in the medical product sector, such as Karl Storz and Diazyme.