The patent litigation system in Europe is very complex with important differences in the various European countries. The choice of venue for a patent infringement lawsuit involves a number of strategic aspects which should be taken into consideration in order to achieve fast and effective proceedings.  

For many years German courts have decided the largest number of patent infringement cases per year in Europe. In Germany, questions of patent infringement and validity are handled in separate proceedings by independent courts. The separate proceedings regarding infringement and validity require a particular know-how and experience in closely coordinating the overall case between the attorney-at-law (Rechtsanwalt) handling the infringement side, and the patent attorney (Patentanwalt) handling the validity side. Having both professions in the same firm removes the need for the client to organize the necessary coordination himself and increases the quality of output of this integrated dual litigation team.

Our law firm offers both professions in one firm, qualified and experienced in both types of litigation, and with the highest level of technical and legal qualifications. This has recently been confirmed in the legal press, with five partners of the firm being rated as leading attorneys in the Guide to the World's Leading Patent Law Practitioners 2007.

The necessity of providing sufficiently detailed information and evidence about infringing activities of competitors may become essential for success in a patent suit. Since the means for collecting evidence in Germany are limited, our law firm particularly offers to perform French seizure proceedings through our Paris office as well as inquiries for the source of patent infringements, using our worldwide network of professional contacts.

These qualifications and services offered by our firm have led many international clients to select the litigators of our firm to conduct premier patent litigation in all relevant German courts and to coordinate with parallel litigation in other European and non-European countries.

Presently, there are efforts under way to establish a unified system for patent litigation in Europe. Dr. Jochen Pagenberg summarizes the developments of a
European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA).