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.
Recommended - Individuals: prosecution
Growth is the buzzword at full-service Zacco, which recently acquired Tandberg Innovation and further expands its international presence as a result. The consultancy firm in unrivalled in its geographical reach, with over 500 professionals operating out of 30 bases across Scandinavia, Northern Europe and Asia, and with its recent expansion it can now service innovators in North America and the Middle East too. Innovation and digitalisation are the pillars upon which the IP practice at Zacco rests, and with senior partners Hans Langan and Anne Sønstevold setting the tone, the prosecution shop is thriving. Mechanical engineer Langan leverages over two decades of experience to produce robust patenting strategies that maximise his clients’ chances of success. Formerly a research scientist in the healthcare sector, Sønstevold has a keen grasp of the real-world issues faced by in-house counsel and thinks up practical and commercially sound solutions as a result. Joining them in the guide this year is Stein Aamot. Aamot is a fine choice for R&D projects, where he can bring his unique insights as a CEO of two start-up R&D companies tobear.
Hans Langan has been working in the patent profession since 1999. He provides advice on strategic patenting issues and deals with all matters related to patenting, such as prior art searches, patent drafting, prosecution, validity assessments, infringement analyses and oppositions. Mr Langan has served as an expert judge in patent-related proceedings at Oslo District Court and is a former member of the Norwegian Board of Appeal for Industrial Property Rights. He also has extensive experience as an expert witness in court proceedings on patent validity andinfringement.
Mr Langan’s technical expertise lies generally within the field of mechanical engineering, and he has significant patent-related insight into the oil and gas exploration and production industries. He graduated with a degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the Ohio State University in 1985. He was subsequently granted the Norwegian ‘sivilingeniør’ degree by the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH).
Mr Langan started his career in 1986 as a project engineer at Kongsberg, performing aerodynamic analysis work on tactical missiles. Between 1988 and 1999, he held various positions in the Norwegian oil and gas exploration industry, focusing progressively on contracts management within large field development projects. His employers and clients in this period included Aker, Kværner, Saga Petroleum and Shell. Mr Langan was employed by Bryns Patentkontor, now a part of Zacco, between 1999 and 2008, working first as a patent attorney before becoming head of the patent department. Between 2008 and 2012, he was patent attorney and partner with the firm Onsagers AS in Oslo, before returning to Zacco. Mr Langan is ranked as a recommended individual in the IAM Patentem class="IndivProfile-Italic" lang="en-GB"> 1000.
Mr Langan believes that the nature of good counselling is helping his clients to understand the importance of quality IP, including its financial and practical implications. Much of his work involves offering unbiased advice and guidance, always acting with the client’s best interests inmind.
Zacco is a modern European full-service IP firm with a 360-degree approach to intellectual property. There are more than 500 professionals working at Zacco, including over 125 authorised patent attorneys and over 75 authorised trademark and design attorneys and attorneys at law. We cover seven European jurisdictions – EUIPO/EPO, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, and operate internationally through a comprehensive network of trusted long-term global partners. Both Zacco as a firm and many of our attorneys have achieved Top Tier or Gold rankings and recommendations from Managing Intellectual Property, World Trademark Review, Intellectual Asset Management and The Legal 500, which we believe independently verifies our commitment to quality, excellence and innovation.
Patent, trademark and design prosecution
Zacco’s international presence ensures that clients need only a single point of contact to handle all their IP prosecution in several European jurisdictions. Thanks to our impressive number of patent attorneys, many of whom are authorised European patent attorneys, Zacco has an expert ready to serve clients in nearly all current and emerging fields of technology. As a client, you will find a skilled and knowledgeable practitioner able to help you secure, protect and enforce your ideas, whether you work in chemistry, mechanics or biotech or the less physical areas of digitalisation, software and artificial intelligence, among many others.
Our trademark and design practice assists all industries with filing and prosecution, availability and infringement opinions and has a special focus on EU trademark and Community design practice, including oppositions, cancellations and appeals before the EUIPO.
Litigation and disputes
When in need of experts in IP litigation and dispute matters, clients can rely on Zacco to represent them across our seven jurisdictions and beyond. Unlike more traditional law firms, we are renowned experts in intellectual property, meaning that we have both the legal and the technical expertise in-house to successfully represent your interests and enforce your intellectual property. Our experts can represent you directly, or provide litigation support to another legal counsel acting as your trusted representative before the authorities.
In contrast to many other IP firms in Scandinavia, Zacco also provides a full range of cross-border IP legal services. These services are offered through cooperation with law firms and lawyers working and sharing offices with Zacco throughout Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Germany.
The legal practice serves all industries with legal advice and assistance related to intellectual property. This includes due diligence, drafting and negotiation of contracts or licensing agreements, data protection and other compliance matters, marketing law, e-commerce, litigation, domain name conflict resolution, customs surveillance and counterfeit prevention. Zacco’s lawyers have successfully represented international clients in proceedings before national courts and the European Court of Justice.
Digital brands
With a significant portion of IP infringement now taking place online, we have introduced services to help clients stay ahead of new and emerging threats to digital intellectual property. Our digital brands team can now monitor IP and brand rights online, assisting with domain name registration and security, and actively monitoring for counterfeiting and other potential infringements in online marketplaces or social media.
Our vision – IP 360: The Future of Intellectual Property
Zacco takes care of our clients’ innovation, identity and digital assets – everything that you literally cannot put your finger on. We protect these assets, we give our clients ownership and we make them theirs to keep – now and in the future.
The world changes, and so do we. Zacco continuously evolves to best serve the changing needs of intellectual property. As the world gets closer, we have broadened our scope of services to meet the implications and opportunities presented by digitalisation.
Our size allows us to have specialists in almost all areas of intellectual property. Our service offerings cover the whole range of patent, trademark and design protection and litigation, as well as secure software development, digital brand protection, cybersecurity and portfolio management.
More than 150 years of experience with innovative thinking
Our history as an international IP firm dates back to 1870. Through continuous focus on internal collaboration, the development and expansion of our services and our long-term growth strategy, Zacco has become one of Europe’s largest and most experienced IP firms.