UPC expertise and collaboration with Vossius
Brinkhof has gained significant UPC experience over the last two years. Together with our cooperation partner Vossius we have represented Agfa in Agfa/Gucci (Hamburg, Luxembourg), OPPO in OPPO/Panasonic, OPPO/KPN, and OPPO/CCC (Mannheim, Munich, Luxembourg, The Hague), Ballinno in Ballinno/UEFA (Hamburg, Luxembourg, Paris), and Amycel (The Hague, Luxembourg). In addition, Brinkhof’s Koen Bijvank is lead counsel for Amgen in a number of cases against Sanofi-Regeneron (Munich, Luxembourg, Dusseldorf), while Brinkhof’s Mark van Gardingen is lead counsel for Genevant in two cases against Moderna (The Hague).
Track record
Brinkhof also has a record of success in The Hague in the most complex, big-ticket and international patent cases, confirmed over recent years with our involvement in an array of high-profile matters. Recently, Brinkhof represented Versuni (formerly known as Philips Domestic Appliances) in PI proceedings against AB Inbev concerning the patented home brewery system PerfectDraft. After a slam dunk victory in the Netherlands, resulting in the grant of an injunction, the case was settled globally.
Other successes include four case law-shaping victories in a row for Chinese clients Xiaomi and OPPO/One Plus in 2020 in SEP/FRAND enforcement litigation initiated by Sisvel – a matter that received recognition as Impact Case of the Year in the prestigious Managing IP awards 2021 followed by victory for OPPO-related entities in PI proceedings against Nokia; several Supreme Court wins in High Point/KPN, shaping procedural patent law and clarifying the relationship between revocation and central limitation proceedings in the Netherlands; ground-breaking cases for The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard raising unprecedented legal questions regarding the formalities of claiming priority – now pending before the EBA in a separate set of proceedings; law-shaping victories for Sandoz against a number of major pharmaceuticals companies including Bayer, Leo Pharma, Eli Lilly, Biogen and others; commercially important patent challenges for Synthon against Teva/Yeda relating to the blockbuster drug Copaxone®; victories for Delta at the Dutch courts and at the EPO against Barco relating to Barco’s Clickshare-related patent portfolio.
Rankings
Our successful VOSSIUS & BRINKHOF and Brinkhof work has not gone unnoticed and Brinkhof and its specialists year after year are ranked among the best legal teams in Europe. View the most recent rankings:
Brinkhof’s MO
Brinkhof is a leading niche firm in Amsterdam. We combine in-depth legal knowledge with technical expertise. Innovative sectors are our daily field of work. Brinkhof has entered the UPV fray with a major strength in coordinating parallel European litigation with a Dutch element. In the UPC we operate with our German partners Vossius & Partner. Nationally we used to operate as a leading independent firm, free to pick the best foreign counsel for that leg of the case in each jurisdiction. Finally, there is no firm in the Netherlands that has the same fluency in foreign languages as we do (not just in Dutch and English, but also in German, French, and Italian).
Expertise
Brinkhof is leading in all areas of patent law. We specialize in complex, cross-border cases. Our lawyers are committed, fast and strategic. Clients appreciate our open communication and results-oriented approach. Our high-profile coordination work in parallel European (and global) patent litigation, for example, has involved representing Heineken in its worldwide patent dispute against Anheuser-Busch Inbev, in which Brinkhof has been leading the coordination of cases pending in the US (ITC proceedings in Washington DC and infringement proceedings in New York), the Netherlands, the UK, Germany and Belgium.
The firm’s telecommunications patent practice is also impressive, acting for numerous new and existing clients in the field of SEPs. We have also been assisting client Vestel in the first Dutch FRAND rate setting proceedings, involving complex jurisdictional issues due to the international nature of the parties, with parallel proceedings in Germany and the UK.
