About Dr. Nina Bayerl (née Schäffner)

Nina Bayerl's area of expertise includes IP law and competition law with a focus on patent disputes in the life sciences and tech sectors.

She advises at various legal interfaces, for example at the interface of patent law, pharmaceutical law and social law in connection with disputes in the pharma sector, or at the interface of IP law and competition law, covering the assertation of standard-essential patents. She also advises on all forms of contracts dealing with IP rights as well as on IP law issues in the context of international transactions.

Before joining Freshfields, Nina wrote a doctoral thesis on patent strategies within the pharmaceutical sector at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition as a scholarship holder.

Nina speaks German and English.

Recent work

• Representation of Moderna in enforcement of COVID-19-related patents against BioNTech/Pfizer;
• Representation of tech companies in disputes concerning standard-essential patents, including Lenovo v. Nokia and InterDigital concerning video coding;
• Representation of Novartis in various patent disputes, e.g. concerning the blockbusters Glivec®, Afinitor®, Gilenya® and Ritalin® (including enforcement of so-called second medical use patents);
• Representation of Alexion against Amgen in the assertion of regulatory market exclusivity rights protecting orphan drugs;
• Advising various companies in M&A transactions, including Grünenthal GmbH with its acquisition of the Nebido® business;
• Representation of various companies (including Palantir and BMS) in complex vindication proceedings.