The Patent 1000 focuses exclusively on patent practice and has firmly established itself as the definitive 'go-to' resource for those seeking world-class legal patent expertise.
Gold - Individuals: prosecution and nullity
“Offering full-scale patent services, from drafting to oppositions, the COHAUSZ & FLORACK team is highly talented. Their squad works seamlessly to achieve excellent results, even in the most challenging patent disputes. The attorneys are very experienced in oppositions and oral proceedings, and should be a top choice for any such work. The whole group is very good, very professional, turning things around quickly, while always remaining pleasant and friendly to work with. They are uniformly excellent and their first concern is the success of the client. No firm has more talent from top to bottom.” “Gottfried Schüll maintains long-term relationships with his following. He is among the smartest, most reliable and most effective attorneys in the patent profession. His ingenuity, honesty, technical knowledge, work ethic and groundbreaking experience are impressive. He is a first-rate practitioner and his service is outstanding throughout.” “Arwed Burrichter has a deep knowledge of his clients’ businesses. His advice is grounded in a trusting relationship and a good understanding of their business objectives and expectations. He is a good communicator, a smart arguer and efficient in patent prosecution and oppositions. He has a remarkable aptitude for managing large and complex files.” “Christoph Walke is first class in terms of the quality of his work, his technical understanding and his client focus. His work product is precise, his knowledge is remarkable and his social manners are refined. He simply delivers excellence. He constantly optimises clients’ portfolios with an eye to the enforcement landscape. He has very deep expertise in complex ICT patents and more than 10 years’ experience in SEPs. He makes very convincing court appearances. Working with Christoph guarantees smooth cooperation between in-house teams and attorneys.” “Philipe Walter is a very experienced patent attorney and has supported a number of litigation cases. He represents his clientele diligently across the entire breadth of the patent system. He is accomplished and very competent in his field. He has a great depth and breadth of understanding, and can cover a very wide spectrum of patent issues.” With a background in mining technology and metallurgy, Andreas Thielmann is a strong choice for many companies seeking patents in the mechanical engineering space. His technical expertise and mastery of patent law have earned him a seat as an honorary judge in the Senate for Patent Attorney Matters at the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) in Karlsruhe. “Natalie Kirchhofer is a highly talented advocate for even the most challenging dispute, opposition and appeal cases in front of the German and European Patent Offices and appeal cases in the German Patent Court. She is among the very best in Germany in winning oral proceedings. She is very articulate, possesses impressive understanding and delivers efficient argumentation. She and the C&F team work seamlessly to secure customer objectives.” Before becoming a patent attorney, Arnd Ziebell worked as a project manager of a medium-sized light-emitting diode company. This experience has given him both a solid grasp of technical specifications and also the ability to work in close cooperation with the development departments of his clients. “Mathias Karlhuber is excellent in oppositions. He is highly professional, detail conscious and always focused on the big picture. He has a sound technical understanding and delivers his arguments with good advocacy skills. He and the whole C&F team are very capable.” Jochen Kapfenberger has an engineering doctorate in environmental technology, worked for four years in industry and has been a patent attorney for almost 20 years. He is an excellent choice for players in a range of engineering fields, bringing a combination of technical rigour and commercial perspective to every patent he drafts and every opposition he faces.
COHAUSZ & FLORACK was founded in 1954 and now has 36 patent attorneys and attorneys at law, as well as approximately 110 employees. This multidisciplinary law firm has offices in Düsseldorf and Munich. The firm supports clients – both international companies and medium-sized companies in Germany – in all matters relating to IP rights and unfair competition. This includes drafting and filing IP rights applications, administering and licensing extensive property rights portfolios, undertaking searches for third-party IP rights and the associated freedom-to-operate expert opinions, as well as drafting cooperation agreements. COHAUSZ & FLORACK also represents clients in proceedings concerning the infringement and validity of IP rights. The firm sees itself as a strong partner and advises clients proactively, individually and holistically on all IP-relevant issues. To this end, the firm leverages the expertise of its 31 patent attorneys and five attorneys at law in their respective fields, all working together as an interdisciplinary, efficient and trusting team.
Technical fields
COHAUSZ & FLORACK combines the know-how of all technical fields under one roof – from mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and information and communications technology to chemistry and life sciences. In addition, COHAUSZ & FLORACK has extensive experience in IP proceedings in other countries (not only EU member states, but also the United States, China, Japan and South Korea) and can rely on its strong network of partner law firms across the world. Internally, COHAUSZ & FLORACK focuses on the long-term development and high-quality training and further education of its employees, all of whom approach the protection of innovations with unparalleled interest and openness. As a result, COHAUSZ & FLORACK can make a decisive contribution to ensuring that companies invest in developments and remain competitive while enriching society with their ideas.
Prosecution of high-tech patent applications
COHAUSZ & FLORACK has special expertise in the preparation and prosecution of high-tech patent applications and in the field of inventions that are relevant to technical standards. It also has decades of experience in the prosecution of patent portfolios comprising large international patent families. In the past five years, the firm has filed around 3,200 patent applications (including 1,600 initial applications) and registered more than 3,300 trademarks. In total, the firm currently manages around 24,000 patents and 19,000 trademarks.
Patent litigation and nullification proceedings
Located in Düsseldorf, the top venue for patent litigation actions in the European Union, the firm’s multidisciplinary team represents blue-chips, as well as small and medium-sized companies – many of the latter being world market leaders in technology. Whenever intellectual property is at stake, COHAUSZ & FLORACK is available to support clients with the relevant expertise.
Patent litigation actions usually go hand in hand with nullification proceedings. Taking place before a separate court and dealt with in separate proceedings in Germany, nullification proceedings represent one of the firm’s main areas of expertise. For the past 25 years, COHAUSZ & FLORACK has worked on over 100 new patent nullity suits and infringement proceedings per year. In addition, the firm takes on more than 75 new opposition and appeal proceedings each year.
The scope of cases handled ranges from patent infringement actions for pharmaceutical clients involving blockbuster drugs through multinational, multi-patent, standards-related cases in the fields of video compression and other forms of communication to niche market cases for ‘hidden champions’. COHAUSZ & FLORACK believes that collaboration with other law firms helps to generate excellent service for the client’s benefit, rather than a loss of revenue.
Throughout COHAUSZ & FLORACK’s history, the firm has played a significant role in the success of the Düsseldorf court. This goes back to its founding years, when the firm accompanied the relocation of the court from Berlin to Düsseldorf in the 1950s. Recently, the firm acted as German lead counsel in the AVC/H.264 patent litigation cases, thereby further contributing to the globally renowned Düsseldorf court’s expertise in the field of information technology and electronics. The firm’s reputation is underscored by its attorneys frequent appointments by the Düsseldorf Appeals Court as court experts.
Expert opinions
Over the past 25 years, COHAUSZ & FLORACK has prepared over 4,000 independent expert opinions on the use of patent-protected inventions in the implementation of standardised technologies.