Sandoz has won the In-house Team of the Year for Patent award at this year’s JUVE Awards Germany. The pharmaceutical company has established a successful patent strategy only three years after its spin-off from Novartis.
The nominees for the award spanned various sectors, including life sciences, generics, telecommunications, and access solutions. However, it is generics that won the day.
Sandoz’s patent department, operating from London and Holzkirchen, has developed into a formidable team. It manages successful patent litigation across Europe concerning blockbuster medicines, paving the way for the market entry of generics and biosimilars.
One example of Sandoz’s success is its victory in defending against a preliminary injunction (PI) concerning its generic version of Bayer’s blockbuster ophthalmic drug Eylea in Germany. Bayer and Regeneron eventually withdrew their PI application against Sandoz at the Higher Regional Court Munich.
Department head Julia Pike is shaping developments in the life sciences market beyond individual cases. She provides impetus with an initiative against delaying tactics involving the filing of divisional applications for pharmaceutical patents. Through a study – conducted in collaboration with the University of Brussels – Sandoz is laying the groundwork for potential reforms.
Clifford Chance also received an award, winning Patent Firm of the Year. The firm has demonstrated its ability to successfully rebuild a practice over the past four years, developing a formidable litigation practice that is now regarded as one of the leading firms for SEP patent disputes.
Since the arrival of renowned partners Tobias Hessel and Stefan Richter, Clifford Chance has developed a strong relationship with clients such as Huawei, and has received new instructions, including against Meta and MediaTek. The practice has also shown that it can represent both sides of SEP disputes, acting for patent users such as Xiaomi and, most recently, TP-Link.
At the same time, Clifford Chance is skilfully leveraging its strong connections with life sciences clients to further expand its litigation practice. One example of this is its representation of Pfizer in extensive UPC proceedings against Promosome concerning mRNA patents. The firm’s young patent team has quickly caught up with market leaders by expanding beyond mobile technology and video coding.
The JUVE Patent editorial team conducted intensive research throughout the year to determine the leading firms in the German patent litigation market. The award is a result of this research, and more information on the leading firms can be found in JUVE Patent’s latest ranking for Germany.
