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  1. 取扱業務
  2. Intellectual property
  3. Patent litigation

Patent litigation

Freshfields

Our patent litigation team takes a thoughtful, practical, and commercial approach to defending your innovations and protecting your business worldwide.

We have a leading patent litigation practice operating before the pan-European Unified Patent Court (UPC) and across the key European jurisdictions of the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. We regularly plan and coordinate strategic patent litigation across UPC member states, multiple countries in Europe and beyond. We immerse ourselves in the technology — from cutting-edge digital to biotechnology — and think ahead to identify the best routes to resolution, whether through the courts, arbitral tribunals, mediation, or settlement.

Since the UPC opened its doors in in June 2023, we have developed a strong presence in the UPC. Leading pharmaceutical and biotech proceedings, as well as disputes involving standard essential patents (SEPs) for video and audio codecs, cellular standards and standards for wireless charging and beyond.

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In depth

United Patent Court

Contacts

Meet the team
London, Dublin

Christopher Stothers

パートナー
Düsseldorf

Frank-Erich Hufnagel

パートナー
Düsseldorf, Munich

Wolrad Prinz zu Waldeck und Pyrmont

パートナー
London, Dublin

Laura Whiting

パートナー
Amsterdam

Rutger Kleemans

パートナー
Munich, Düsseldorf

Nina Bayerl (née Schäffner)

パートナー
Berlin, Düsseldorf

Corin Gittinger

パートナー
Meet the team

Awards & recognition

Chambers Europe Guide 2026 - Intellectual Property

“The team is extremely strong substantively and very efficient. The coordination among the team is a particular asset when juggling multiple workstreams and issues.”

Chambers Global Guide 2026 Netherlands Intellectual Property: Patent Litigation

“Freshfields shows no fear in walking new paths and testing new ideas, driving innovation in its strategies and solutions.”

“Freshfields jumped on the matter very quickly, with extreme commitment at short notice. The team's ability to adapt at short notice to unforeseen and quite big changes is the most impressive thing.”

Juve Germany — 2025

“For years, this international law firm has maintained an integrated European patent team with extensive experience in continent-wide infringement proceedings. Since 2023, the Freshfields team has established itself as a top UPC representative.”

Our thinking

Our thinking

Feb 14 2025

SPC protection for second medical uses post-Brexit - UK Court of Appeal clarifies test

The Court of Appeal has clarified that Brexit has not changed the test to determine whether supplementary protection certificate (SPC)...
Feb 25 2025

BSH v Electrolux: long-arm jurisdiction of EU member state courts for cross-border injunctions in patent litigation

Today, the ECJ issued the long-awaited judgment in BSH v Electrolux. As expected in our last post, the court has taken a major step to...
Feb 21 2025

Will cross-border injunctions become the norm in European patent litigation?

European courts have taken different approaches to cross-border injunctions in patent cases for many years, despite the harmonising...
Sep 25 2024

New era for European compulsory licensing on the horizon?

On 26 June 2024, just days before the end of the Belgian presidency, the Council of the EU adopted its position on a proposed regulation...
Feb 28 2024

European Parliament moves SEP regulation forward

On 28 February 2024, Members of the European Parliament adopted their position on the draft regulation on standard essential patents...
Feb 14 2024

Life sciences – what to expect in 2024

2023 was marked by some real success stories in the life sciences and healthcare space, including ground-breaking new weight loss...
Nov 28 2023

Will English become the language of the UPC?

Two recent UPC orders have changed the existing languages of proceedings from Dutch and German respectively to English. Is this the start...
Jul 5 2023

SEP Draft Regulation moving forward in European Parliament and Council

Roughly two months ago, on 27 April 2023, the European Commission published its much-anticipated patent package, including a proposal for...
Jun 21 2023

UPC week 3 – what we are seeing (and not seeing)

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is in its third week of operations and from what is visible so far we’re seeing the life sciences sector...
Jun 9 2023

The UPC case finder: Beware of the Leopard

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) case finder search facility enables the public to search for cases filed in the UPC. It’s pleasing that...
Feb 16 2023

A new design for EU design law

After more than 20 years since the Community design framework was introduced, the Commission has taken the first steps to update the...

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