Firm overview
Areas of specialism
EIP is a leading IP law firm advising on high-value and complex patent matters. Our multidisciplinary team combines patent attorneys, litigators and commercial IP lawyers. EIP is located in key strategic markets – Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The benefit of combining attorneys and litigators is well illustrated by EIP’s successful representation of clients in high-stakes patent litigation before the UK High Court, the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and before the German district and federal courts.
Aside from the more mainstream drafting and prosecution practices, EIP’s patent attorneys work closely with the litigation team in the United Kingdom and Germany, providing additional technical expertise on large-scale international patent litigation matters. We also have a dedicated, experienced and technically skilled team supporting clients before the new Unified Patent Court (UPC). EIP brings together highly recognised litigation lawyers and European patent attorneys that are experienced in English and German across all technical fields and since the UPC opened its doors also has experience from a number of cases before different venues of the new court.
EIP is increasingly involved in advisory and strategic project work in relation to the enforcement of patent rights, including portfolio analyses, infringement and validity analyses and claim charting, as well as strategic IP advice such as due diligence related to acquisitions and joint ventures. Team members often counsel clients on strategic patent portfolio management and development matters, and EIP has been retained to assist in developing high-level IP strategies for some of the world’s largest companies. Recently, after strategic hire, the team can also advise on China related matters.
To complement the high-value patent advice we already provide to our clients, we give commercial advice on the exploitation and use of IP rights and ancillary issues arising in relation to data protection and rights of privacy.
EIP has represented clients in hundreds of oppositions before the EPO over the past two decades and represent clients in person at hearings at the EPO in Munich, The Hague and Berlin, as well as via videoconference hearings.
The firm’s integrated team of patent attorneys, litigators and paralegals can act in national court litigation alongside EPO opposition proceedings for a seamless, consistent and effective service.
Clients
EIP has a diverse international client base, advising blue-chip companies through to small and mid-sized enterprises. Clients include Nokia, VISA, Airbus, AP Moller-Maersk, Pulpex, Sonos, Broadcom and Optis.
Clients choose EIP for its commercial outlook, in-house experience, honest opinions and pioneering approach to dealing with patents. Our attorneys and lawyers have considerable technical knowledge in the areas of high tech, advanced engineering, chemistry, life sciences, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, medical technology and energy.
Firm overview
EIP was established in 2000 and has rapidly grown to be a leading IP firm with 36 partners and more than 180 staff practising from its four UK offices in Bath, Cardiff, Leeds and London, its German office in Düsseldorf, its Sweden office in Stockholm and its US office in Denver, Colorado.
In 2024 EIP was named “European Patent Disputes Firm of the Year” at Managing Intellectual Property EMEA awards for the third time. EIP is a Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, IAM Patent 1000, IP Stars and JUVE-recommended firm, as well as being one of four firms achieving gold rankings all six categories in the Financial Times' Europe's Leading Patent Law Firms award list: Biotechnology, Food & Healthcare, Chemistry & Pharmacy, Electrical Engineering & Physics, IT & Software, Materials & Nanotechnology, and Mechanical Engineering.
Notable cases
EIP has built an enviable reputation in patent litigation and has won the following high-profile cases for clients:
- EIP secured a landmark victory in the UK Supreme Court for its clients Unwired Planet and Conversant Wireless, in Unwired Planet v Huawei and Conversant Wireless v Huawei & ZTE – the most eagerly anticipated telecoms cases in years. The Supreme Court’s combined ruling defines the licensing of patented technology considered essential to the international standards for previous and future generations of wireless telecommunications technology.
- EIP secured a significant victory for client Conversant Wireless in Germany. EIP successfully asserted a standard essential patent (SEP) for Conversant against Stuttgart carmaker Daimler in a dispute that will have repercussions across the sector.
- EIP obtained a victory in the Düsseldorf District Court for its client Conversant Wireless in two patent infringement decisions against Huawei and ZTE. The court affirmed infringement of two 3G-related SEPs by Huawei and ZTE products. Subject to enforcement, the ruling awarded, among other things, an injunction against both companies, confirming a previous but non-accepted licence offer by Conversant as fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory.
