Christian Haupt

Silver - Individuals: prosecution and nullity

The 360-degree patent offering at BARDEHLE PAGENBERG is among Germany’s very best. From its top-notch litigation practice through its technically masterful prosecution and competent handling of the highest-value transactions, the outfit can do it all. For infringement proceedings, clients call them a “standout firm in the German market. They have the capacity to provide sufficient resources for very large cases. It is a top litigation firm and likely to be prominent at the UPC. Tilman Müller-Stoy and Johannes Heselberger are among the very best in Europe for all IP matters. Tilman manages all matters, regardless of complexity, with great oversight, experience and a clear focus on client needs. Patrons always feel they are in very good hands with him. He is a great lawyer, but also gets himself intensely involved with the technical subject matter of each case. He is very well connected in the community. For cross-border litigation, Tilman manages things extremely well. He is an out-of-the-box thinker and comes up with unorthodox strategic solutions to help achieve our goals. Also, on a personal level, he is a very uncomplicated and amicable person to work with. Johannes is also excellent. He has superb judgement and experience. He knows which arguments to make and has the work ethic to develop those arguments to the fullest. He provides outstanding legal representation.” The litigation practice as a whole has been praised for its “solid and very profound work. The team always offers timely counsel which is proactive and solutions-oriented. They have great, scaleable resources, are very customer focused and always willing to go the extra mile. The team has a real understanding of business and the value of every case they work on.” Tobias Wuttke recently joined the bench from Meissner Bolte, where he had headed the litigation practice. A specialist in cross-border litigation strategy, Wuttke focuses on the economic perspective of every dispute he conducts. Frequent collaborators Volkmar Henke and Tilman Müller, joining the group from Eisenführ Speiser, supplement the practice with a new office in Hamburg. Henke is a deeply experienced litigator and adviser on associated licensing agreements. Particularly strong in the areas of telecommunication and other technology, while at Eisenführ, Henke represented DivX against Netflix in an infringement proceeding in Mannheim, as well as joining forces with Müller to enforce an SEP in video coding for Electronic and Telecommunication Research Institute against five opponents. A second matter at Eisenführ with Müller saw the two represent Koninklijke Philips NV in 3G and 4G patent licensing settlements with Xiaomi. Henke and Müller also supported Dolby International AB in the enforcement of their SEPs for video coding. Newcomers to the IAM Patent 1000 this year include Jan Bösing, whom sources call “proactive, well organised and incredibly knowledgeable in the case law”; Stefan Lieck, a “very reliable and competent lawyer”; and Nadine Westermeyer, a highly experienced litigator, especially in telecoms, mechanical engineering and medical devices. Patrons are just as enthusiastic about the prosecution and nullity offering presented by the firm’s skilled patent attorneys. “BARDEHLE’s attorneys cover all technical areas with great expertise. Every area is well staffed and their knowledge is excellent. The firm leaves an extremely favourable impression – they set the benchmark for patent prosecution in Germany.” The commercially savvy Tobias Kaufmann brings his in-house experience for a leading electronics company to his work as a patent attorney. A skilled drafter, he is also regularly called upon to assist in contentious proceedings, from oppositions and appeals to nullity and infringement actions. With Johannes Lang, he serves as lead for Bridgestone in EPO applications in both mechanical engineering and chemistry. Of Lang, patrons write: “The overall impression conveyed by working with Johannes is overwhelmingly positive. He delivers great execution and positive results. His good judgement and pragmatic advice are especially to be commended. His knowledge and dedication to client success are admirable. Johannes is a very experienced patent attorney.” Kaufmann also does application work for Qualcomm at the national, European and Patent Cooperation Treaty levels, while he and Christof Karl take charge for AusioBio Laboratories in infringement and parallel cancellation proceedings. Karl is a computer hardware expert, with extensive experience in multi-jurisdictional telecom cases. He is a market leader in patentability analyses for software and computer-implemented inventions. Another matter Kaufmann works on is for GPS manufacturer TomTom in a connected cars dispute against Nokia and Sharp. A highly complex affair, this case also brings in Müller-Stoy, Bösing and fellow patent attorney Christian Haupt. Haupt is highly skilled as a prosecutor in the field of mechanical engineering, telecoms and computer-implemented inventions. He has a strategic eye for parallel nullity/infringement proceedings. Another matter Haupt takes on is a comprehensive filing strategy for adidas, alongside Joachim Mader. The two render superb, value-added advice for the sportswear leader, including management of the company’s entire European and German portfolio. Mader’s technical dexterity is displayed by his concurrent global patent advice for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Haupt and Georg Anetsberger support Müller-Stoy for Microsoft, who is defending against infringement allegations from three parties. One, against Uniloc, involves infringement and invalidity proceedings and relates to patents in cloud systems for routing and data servers. The second involves the licensed use of digital content and is against ViaTech, while the third is an assertion against Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform by Zoe, with a parallel invalidity proceeding. With several years in experimental physics research under his belt, Anetsberger is a good choice for this work and has deep technical expertise in lasers, semiconductors and nanotechnology. Another matter in which Haupt and Anetsberger are involved is a massive series of 60 infringement proceedings and an equally large number of invalidity proceedings for Intellectual Ventures against Telekom Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone GmbH and Telefónica Germany GmbH in the areas of LTE, DSL and WCDMA technology. Müller-Stoy takes the lead on this matter, and also receives support from Lieck, Westermeyer and Kaufmann, as well as Niels Malkomes and Patrick Daum. Malkomes is particularly experienced in this field, knowing telecoms, smartphones and tablets inside and out. He also has invaluable niche expertise in the area of coatings for optical and electrical technology. Daum has a PhD in Global MHD Simulations of Magnetospheric Phenomena, making him very well equipped for patent issues in satellite technology and various aspects of telecommunications, as well as electrical and aerospace engineering. “Martin Hohgardt’s work is of the highest quality. Every interaction with him adds value. He provides diligent, clear and actionable advice. His communications are straightforward, easy to understand and accessible.” Two other leading patent attorneys are Axel Berger and Benjamin Ruckert. Berger is a life science specialist, with particular expertise in molecular cell biology and biochemistry, but equally deft in most pharmaceutical technologies, as well as medical devices. Ruckert is a telecoms ace, with expertise in all areas of communications engineering. He is a seasoned hand when it comes to tricky opposition and nullity proceedings. Meanwhile, firm namesake Jochen Pagenberg remains a leading light in the German patent profession. For more than 30 years Pagenberg has led the most complex, high-value, multi-jurisdictional, multilingual patent litigation cases.