Germany

Firm overview

HOFFMANN EITLE is a leading European intellectual property (IP) boutique firm with over 140 in-house IP professionals across eight locations: Munich, London, Milan, Madrid, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Barcelona and Amsterdam. The firm is headquartered in Munich, where the majority of its attorneys are based.

Established in 1892, HOFFMANN EITLE has evolved from a single founding member to one of Europe's largest and most distinguished law firms. This growth has been driven by a blend of a long-standing tradition of excellence and a contemporary approach to IP consultation, earning the firm high client satisfaction. The firm's dedication to quality and expertise is reflected in numerous industry awards and top rankings in major industry guides.

HOFFMANN EITLE offers comprehensive European IP services and competent advice in all technical and legal areas. Its team of more than 110 patent attorneys with European and national qualifications and various technical backgrounds files in excess of 4,000 patent applications each year. HOFFMANN EITLE is the market leader in European Patent Office opposition work, being involved in over 5% of opposition cases.

HOFFMANN EITLE is also very active in patent litigation, both in the coordination of multi-jurisdictional disputes and proceedings at the UPC and German courts. In addition, its litigation and contracts team is on hand to provide advice on other IP-related issues, such as competition law, contract law and licensing.

Trademark and design work is another major field of expertise at HOFFMANN EITLE. The firm has a dedicated team of in-house attorneys at law with specialized knowledge in trademark prosecution and litigation.

HOFFMANN EITLE is a multinational firm. Its IP professionals come from a number of countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark as well as from several countries outside of Europe, including the United States, Japan, China and Korea. This means that the attorneys of HOFFMANN EITLE are able to advise clients in many languages, with an understanding of local legal traditions and a network of contacts in their attorneys’ respective home countries.

In addition to HOFFMANN EITLE’s extensive in-house talent, the firm has built up over the years a regional and global network of associate lawyers and law firms which provide HOFFMANN EITLE with any assistance it may require to competently coordinate multinational prosecution and litigation projects for its clients.

The firm’s international client base includes many well-known large corporations as well as small and medium-sized firms from Japan, Korea, China, the United States and Europe.

Firm overview

We are your reliable partner in IP law. The protection of intellectual property is not a temporary trend, but rather a necessity for being successful in the market.

Protecting inventions, products or brands, developing IP strategies, enforcing IP rights, analysing risks, attacking third-party IP rights, fending off attacks based on competitors’ IP rights – our team supports clients worldwide in all IP situations with expertise and experience.

Wtihin the first year since the Unified Patent Court commenced its activities, we, a patent law firm with offices in Munich and Constance (on the border with Switzerland) having more than 15 IP practitioners and a strong team of paralegals, have been involved in more than 15 cases and thus, as of today, in about 5% of all existing UPC cases as main representatives or co-counsels. We are involved in infringement and invalidation proceedings on both the plaintiff’s and defendant’s side.

In accordance with our firm’s philosophy, we operate closely with our clients, have a holistic view of the cases and also regularly support our clients in international teams in order to maximise the benefits for our clients in the respective jurisdiction.

Firm overview

NEUWERK is a full-service law firm in Hamburg, Germany, serving national and international clients from start-ups and innovative mid-size enterprises to Fortune 500 companies. The firm provides legal advice on all IP and IT matters, including licensing and partnering, technology transfers, joint ventures and alliances, software and IT outsourcings, data protection and privacy, as well as complex commercial law matters.

Founded in 2016 as a spin-off from a magic circle firm, the practice has specialized on assisting clients from the life sciences and healthcare sector in particular. NEUWERK regularly advises biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers on product divestitures, licensing arrangements, R&D collaborations, clinical trial agreements and distribution matters, as well as on numerous other issues relating to the development, manufacture and marketing of their products.

Börge Seeger heads the life sciences focus group at NEUWERK. His team recently advised the University Clinic of Cologne, Germany, on a global license and collaboration agreement with mRNA specialist BioNTech for the joint development of new approaches against HIV. He also recently advised multinational health care company Fresenius on all legal matters in connection with the global outsourcing of its central IT services, covering approximately 60,000 employees in more than 1,000 sites worldwide.

Clients regularly praise NEUWERK lawyers as "incredibly responsive” and “fun to work with”, Börge Seeger is praised by clients as “our go-to guy” for both IP and IT matters.

NEUWERK and its partners are highly recommended by all major ranking institutions including Legal 500, Chambers, JUVE, IAM, Best Lawyers and Who's Who Legal.

Firm overview

Pinsent Masons' international IP team comprises over 80 IP specialists globally, delivering award-winning, multi-disciplinary expertise through a range of technical backgrounds (some to PhD) and experience drawn from industry.  

At the heart of our practice are long term relationships with many world leading businesses across a range of industry sectors, including: life sciences, technology, energy, financial services, sport, retail and leisure. With a shared passion for innovation, and belief that diversity of thought results in better solutions for business, together we harness IP law to drive positive change, access new markets and disrupt the status quo. 

Our IP advisory team advises on rights and commercialisation strategies, cutting edge collaborations and IP rich cross-border transactions that redefine the commercial landscape. More than just applying lawyers to solve legal problems, we deploy a range of professional disciplines, enabled by process and technology and informed by data. Not only does this empower us to develop solutions and ensure successful outcomes for our clients, it enables us to do so more efficiently and cost effectively.

Our peerless IP disputes team deploys litigation as a strategic tool to help businesses achieve their business goals, rather than simply navigating risk.  Working as a seamless extension of in-house legal and management teams, we're focussed on positive outcomes, whether that is achieving market access for a new product or service, or retaining competitive advantage against those ready to challenge them. 

We have a reputation for taking on the most difficult cases and winning them, often making new law in the process. We regularly act in the highest profile IP litigations before the EPO and EUIPO as well as the national courts and registries. Our success rate is second to none.

Recent IP awards include:

• Xarelto litigations was named an ‘Impact Case of the Year’ at LMG Life Sciences Awards EMEA 2024
• Impact Case of the Year - Sandoz and Teva vs Britsol-Myers Squibb (Managing IP Awards 2024)
• EMEA Patent Litigation Firm of the Year: Pharmaceuticals (LMG Life Sciences Awards EMEA 2023)
• UK Firm of the Year (LMG Life Sciences Awards EMEA 2023)
• Impact Case of the Year – Fingolimod (LMG Life Sciences Awards EMEA 2023)
• Impact Case of the Year – Flynn Pharma (LMG Life Sciences Awards EMEA 2023)
• Impact Case of the Year – Neurim Pharmaceuticals, MIP Awards 2023
• Winner UK (England & Wales) Contentious Patent Law Firm of the Year (Managing IP Awards 2020)
• Winner Impact Case of the Year - Actavis v ICOS (tadalafil) (Managing IP Awards 2020)
• Shortlisted European Contentious Patents Firm of the Year (Managing IP Awards 2020)
• Shortlisted UK Practitioner of the Year - Charlotte Weekes (Managing IP Awards 2020)
• Shortlisted UK (Scotland) IP Transactions (Managing IP Awards 2020)
• Shortlisted UK (Scotland) Contentious Patents (Managing IP Awards 2020)
• Shortlisted TMT Team of the Year (Legal Business Awards 2020)
• Winner Legal Strategy of the Year (Global Generics & Biosimilars Awards 2019)
• Winner Impact Case of the Year Award (Managing IP Awards 2019)
• Winner TMT and Life Sciences Team of the Year (British Legal Awards 2019)
• Shortlisted TMT Team of the Year (Legal Business Awards 2019)
• Winner Patent Litigation Firm of the Year (Corporate International Magazine's Award 2019)
• Winner International Global Business Award 2019
• Winner IP or IT team of the Year (Lawyer Awards 2018)
• Winner Client Choice Award for Patent Litigation (Clare Tunstall) 2018
• Winner TMT Team of the Year (British Legal Awards 2017)