Takanori Abe

Mr. ABE is an Attorney-at-Law, admitted in both Japan and New York. He is currently a Guest Professor of Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine and formerly a lecturer of The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine.  He is an arbitrator in Japan and sit on various positions in Japanese medical/pharmaceutical societies.

Mr. ABE works in wide areas of international and corporate matters with a focus on intellectual property law and international commerce. The patent litigations that he has participated covers the fields of pharmaceuticals, chemistry, electronics and machinery, which involve advanced technology such as biotechnology, semiconductors, etc., and which are cross-border matters. He has extensive experience on representing and advising multinational and domestic clients in pharmaceutical industry and is currently involved in the drastic battle between brands and also the one between brands and generics. He also has experience in trademark, copyright and unfair competition litigation.

For Mr. ABE’s detail information and activities, please visit www.abe-law.com or email to: [email protected]

Sean Alexander

Sean Alexander is a qualified European Patent Attorney as well as a Canadian and U.S. Patent Agent. He has worked in the IP field for many years and is currently the Head of IP Strategy (H&N) for Chr. Hansen in Denmark. Prior to joining Chr. Hansen, Sean headed the IP team at Elanco Inc. based in the Netherlands and was a Partner with Gowling WLG in Canada. Sean has been recognized as one of the world's leading IP strategists by IAM Magazine and is regularly praised for his pragmatic and commercially aware approach to IP.

Agathe Michel-De Cazotte

Agathe is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution practice group. She represents clients in major cross-border patent litigations and in innovation-heavy transactions. She has successfully litigated in France, the UK, and Germany, and has represented clients in EPO oppositions for over ten years. As a result, Agathe understands the practicalities of a successful litigation strategy when it involves multiple countries and has coordinated parallel cases in more than 25 countries.

Mike Cottler

Robin Ellis

Paolo Gerli

With a degree in Pharmaceutical Technology, Paolo joined the IP field in 1987, as patent examiner at the European Patent Office in The Hague. Since 1997 to present, he works in Milan as qualified EP patent attorney in the Italian private practice, defending the patent portfolio of important chemical/pharmaceutical companies and research institutions. He gathered considerable experience in patent litigation, EPO oppositions/appeal proceedings and working for over 10 years as registered technical expert for the Italian Court of Milan. Holder of the European Patent Litigation Certificate, qualifying for representation before the UPC. Recently nominated as Technical Judge at the UPC. 

Gerben Hartman

Gerben Hartman is a lawyer in the Research and Documentation directorate of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) since 2021, where he carries out preliminary analyses of references for a preliminary ruling and other case-related research. His work mainly focuses on all areas of Intellectual Property law. Previously (2010-2016), he worked as a lawyer at a top-tier law firm in the Netherlands. He completed his law studies at the university of Nijmegen (2009) and Stanford Law School (2017), followed by a four-year EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship at Queen Mary University of London, with secondments in the Legal Service of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and in the cabinet of Judge Niilo Jääskinen at the CJEU.

James Horgan

Martina Tyreus Hufnal

Martina is a principal in Fish & Richardson’s Delaware office. Her practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and covers a wide range of technologies. Martina has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical field, including Hatch-Waxman litigation, as well as chemical and software cases. Martina’s experience covers all aspects of pre-litigation diligence and litigation, including case assessment, electronic document collection and production, managing teams handling fact and expert discovery, settlement strategy, and trial work. She offers a diverse perspective to clients on litigation impact on business as well as implications of post-grant proceedings. Clients describe her as “outstanding lead counsel” who is “known for her prowess in post-grant proceedings and great in Hatch-Waxman actions.”

Stephan Kutik

Ewan Nettleton

Jon Singer

Jon is a principal in the firm’s San Diego office and heads the life sciences litigation practice. He appears regularly as lead counsel in his matters and handles all aspects of litigation, including leading jury and bench trials, trying cases to administrative and arbitration panels and conducting briefing and arguments before the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the PTAB. Jon is annually named one of the nation’s finest life sciences trial attorneys and is an expert in proceedings under the Hatch-Waxman Act. His clients consistently praise his innovative and ground-breaking work and over the past two decades, he has successfully handled dozens of cases covering all aspects of the life sciences.

Corinna Sundermann

Corinna Sundermann has been heading the IP department of the Pharma Division at Fresenius Kabi. She joined Fresenius Kabi in 2008 as a Manager and built the IP department from 1 to 30 FTE since then. She has been the Senior Vice President since 2012. Her focus is on generics, branded products, clinical nutrition and medical devices. Before joining Fresenius Kabi, she worked 10 years for an originator company, 5 years as a Head of Combinatorial Chemistry, 5 years in the IP department and has been a European Patent Attorney since 2006. She holds a Dr. rer. nat. from the University of Jena and a diploma in chemistry from the University of Frankfurt.

Beatriz Díaz de Escauriaza

Beatriz is currently Head of the IP Legal Practice at Insud Pharma Group, a diversified biopharmaceutical business based in Madrid, Spain, that she joined in 2017. Beatriz holds a degree in Law and a Master Degree in Intellectual Property by the University of Alicante (Magister Lvcentinvs). Before joining Insud Pharma, Beatriz worked in private practice as a patent litigator in Madrid with Bird & Bird where she specialized on pharma patent litigation. During her years at Bird&Bird she also intervened before the European authorities, having also acted before the European Court of Justice at Strasbourg.

Margot Kokke

Margot has been appointed UPC judge in The Hague division. She is (senior) patent judge and (bio)chemist (MSc) with more than eight years’ experience as a (patent) judge at the District Court the Hague, The Netherlands (2014-now) and over ten years’ experience as an (IP) lawyer in private practice (at law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, The Hague and Amsterdam). She also has worked in international environments on four continents in the private sector and with (supra)national organizations for many years. She is a Dutch national, born en raised in The Netherlands and Athens, Greece.

Toni Santamaria

Toni has been leading the Intellectual Property team at Adalvo since 2021. He has more than 20 years of experience in different pharmaceutical companies where he has been involved in developing and implementing complex patent and data exclusivity litigation strategies for several generics and added value products, including leading parallel litigation cases in multiple European countries.   He also has experience in patent and trademark prosecution.

Toni qualified as European Patent Attorney in 2010 and holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry.  

Andras Kupecz

Gabriel Cuonzo

Gabriel Cuonzo is a co-founder of Trevisan & Cuonzo. With over 30 years courtroom experience, Gabriel has represented many multinational companies before the Italian courts in a broad range of high profile cases with an international dimension. With an excellent understanding of international law and as a skilled linguist, Gabriel takes a pragmatic, solution oriented approach to commercial matters and is often involved in complex, mostly IP driven, transactions. Gabriel is widely regarded as a leading figure in pharmaceutical litigation and regulatory work

Judith Krens

Judith Krens leads the Life Sciences practice of Pinsent Masons in the Netherlands. She has two decades of experience with cross-border patent and SPC litigation in the field of pharmaceuticals, biotech and medical devices. Clients describe her as a highly skilled and stand-out partner for such matters in the region. As a life sciences specialist Judith assists clients with complicated matters in pharmaceutical and medical device regulatory law. Judith further has worked in the M&A and private equity team of Debevoise & Plimpton in New York, which gave her top-class experience in negotiating IP licenses and transfer agreements. She is Dutch (Amsterdam bar) and US (NY bar) qualified. Judith is one of the co-founders of the Female IP Experts (FIPE) network in the Netherlands. She frequently speaks at international and national conferences on pharmaceutical and biotech patent litigation.

Gustavo de Freitas Morais

Partner at Dannemann Siemsen since 1999 and member of the executive committee of the firm. He is an electrical engineer and attorney, with specialisation in Intellectual Property at the Franklin Pierce Law Center (USA) and on Artificial Intelligence: Implication for Business Strategy at MIIT Sloan School of Management. He is a professor on the Lato Sensu Postgraduate Program at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and at the Superior School of Law (ESA) at Brazilian Bar Association (OAB/SP). He has extensive experience in litigation, intellectual property negotiations, patents, industrial designs, technology transfer, trademarks, access to genetic resources, regulatory and life sciences issues in general. He has a diversified international practice, representing a number of global companies. He serves clients from diverse industries including pharmaceuticals, pesticides, automotive, biotechnology, chemical and petrochemical, electronics and technology, food, beverage and tobacco, among others. He constantly participates in events on life sciences and technology industries, either as a speaker or moderator and is co-author of the books: - Industrial Secrets versus Access to Information Law: a Contradiction? (2014) - Intellectual Property and the Internet: a Global Guide to Protecting Intellectual Property Online (2014) - ANDA Litigation: Strategies and Tactics for Pharmaceutical Patent Litigators - Chapter 18 - Pharmaceutical Regulation and Litigation in Foreign Countries (2012).

Agathe Michel-De Cazotte

Agathe is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution practice group. She represents clients in major cross-border patent litigations and in innovation-heavy transactions. She has successfully litigated in France, the UK, and Germany, and has represented clients in EPO oppositions for over ten years. As a result, Agathe understands the practicalities of a successful litigation strategy when it involves multiple countries and has coordinated parallel cases in more than 25 countries.

Ricardo Dijkstra

Denis Schertenleib

Rieke Kaup

Frank Landolt

Frank Landolt is Chief Counsel, Intellectual Property and Legal at Confo Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical start-up based in Ghent, Belgium specializing in GPCR-targeted therapeutics.

After studying chemistry and law at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, Frank worked for almost ten years on pharmaceutical and biotechnological patents and licensing in private practice in the Netherlands, where his clients included major pharmaceutical companies as well as some of the top biotech firms and research institutions in the Netherlands.

Prior to joining Confo in 2018, Frank worked for fifteen years in Ablynx N.V. (now a wholly owned Sanofi company), where he was a member of the management team and headed an integrated IP and legal group of four lawyers and five patent professionals. At Ablynx, Frank was involved in negotiating Ablynx’s strategic partnerships and licensing deals with AbbVie, Boehringer-Ingelheim, MSD, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and Wyeth.

From 2000 to 2004, Frank was director of IP and legal counsel at Devgen N.V. (now part of Syngenta), another Ghent-based biotechnology company, where he was involved in negotiating Devgen’s strategic collaborations with Sumitomo, Monsanto, and DuPont Pioneer.

Frank is a Dutch and European patent attorney and also holds a degree in business law from the University of Antwerp. He is a member of the Dutch association of patent attorneys (where he is a tutor for the professional qualification course), EPI, and LES Benelux (where he is involved in the LES Licensing Course). He is a regular speaker on a range of topics relating to IP and licensing in the (bio)pharmaceutical sector. Frank was named as one of Managing IP’s ‘Corporate IP stars’ for four years in a row (2015-2018).

Claudia Milbradt

Claudia heads the German IP practice and the German Tech Group of Clifford Chance. She is also a member of the leadership team of Clifford Chance's Global Tech Group. Claudia has advised clients in the field of intellectual property since 1999. She specializes in patent and trademark litigation and strategic advice for cross-border IP litigations. Claudia has significant experience in technology transfer, patent license agreements as well as research and development projects.

Tjibbe Douma

Tjibbe is a partner in the Intellectual Property Group based in Amsterdam, with a focus on technology-related matters, in particular patents and trade secrets.

He advises and litigates for clients in the life sciences, tech & comms, energy & utilities and retail and consumer sectors. Tjibbe has extensive experience in both European and US litigation, including high-end multi-jurisdictional patent disputes.

Tjibbe has acted for both opponents and patentees as co-counsel in EPO opposition proceedings. He has also represented clients in contractual disputes, including contractual litigation involving milestone claims in the life sciences sector and in arbitration proceedings regarding IP warranties.

Tjibbe regularly advises clients on IP strategy and on technology-driven M&A deals including in the venture technology field.

His work has been recognised by rankings over the past years in Chambers Global & Europe, Who's Who Legal Patents & Life Sciences, IAM Patent 1000, MIP and in 2020 by receiving the Client Choice Award for Intellectual Property - Patents in the Netherlands.

Tobias J. Hessel

Tobias J. Hessel has worked as an attorney since 2009 and advises and represents clients in national as well as multi-jurisdictional litigation cases. He mainly represents clients in patent and utility model infringement cases and in parallel opposition and nullity proceedings at the European Patent Office and the German Federal Patent Court. He also represents clients in damages proceedings. Tobias’ clients are predominantly in the fields of information technology, medical devices, telecommunications, and semiconductors.

Tobias studied law at the University of Osnabrück with a strong focus on intellectual property law and U.S. law. Tobias is a visiting lecturer in patent law at the law faculty of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, and visiting lecturer at the law faculty of the University of Osnabrück for Patent Law.

Koen Verhoef

Koen Verhoef is a molecular virologist by training, having obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam in 1999. In 2001 he started as a technology transfer manager with MRC Technology (now: LifeArc), the commercialization company of the Medical Research Council in London, UK. In 2003 he moved back to the Netherlands where he founded the Technology Transfer Office at VU University Medical Centre (Medical Faculty) in Amsterdam, which soon expanded its activities to the other Faculties of VU University Amsterdam.

In April 2009 he was recruited to become the head of the Technology Transfer Office of the Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital (NKI-AVL).

Koen is an active member of ASTP-Proton, the European professional association for Knowledge Transfer, and served on its Board between 2010 and 2014.

Camille Pecnard

Admitted to the Paris bar, Camille provides our clients with all of his knowledge of French intellectual property law. He regularly advises on multi-jurisdictional matters, relating to patent law and trade secrets/know-how, trademark law, copyright/designs law, new technology law and unfair competition/parasitism law.

Camille is thus able to protect and enforce intellectual property rights, in particular through infringement seizures (“saisies-contrefaçon”) and all types of litigation related action before the French courts, and to negotiate any type of contract pertaining to intellectual property rights (assignment or license agreements, co-development agreements, research agreements, consortium agreements, pledges, etc.).

Sherry Yao

Wim Maas

Wim leads the Dutch & Belgium patents group and as an experienced trial lawyer he specialises in global patent infringement and invalidity proceedings in complex technical areas. 

 Wim has two decades of experience in patent law. He is a great strategic thinker and knows how to support and accelerate the growth of the businesses of his clients, ranging from pharmaceutical and biotech companies to large electronics manufacturers.

 IAM Patent 1000: “Wim provides commercial and pragmatic advice and delivers to tight deadlines. He understands the pharmaceutical industry well and appreciates the pressures and goals of those within it.”

Gabriele Girardello