3rd Global Patent Litigation FORUM

Jochen is managing partner of Finnegan’s Munich office. He is one of the rare lawyers in Germany admitted as an attorney at law, a German patent attorney, and a European patent attorney. Jochen has almost 20 years of experience in patent litigation proceedings. He has represented clients in patent litigation proceedings in all major technical fields, including mechanics, electronics, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, and biotechnology. Jochen is named as an IP Star in Germany by Managing Intellectual Property.

In 2000 he started as a judge at the District Court in Munich (Chamber for Patent Litigation). From 2001 to 2004 he worked in the Copyright Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice in Berlin. In 2004 he was public prosecutor at the public prosecutor’s office in Munich. After another stage as judge at the District Court in Munich from 2005 to 2012 (Intellectual Property Rights, especially Patent Litigation), he served as judge at the Higher Regional Court in Munich from 2012 to 2016. From 2016 until January 2022 he was Presiding Judge of a patent litigation chamber at the District Court in Munich. Since February he leads the chamber for antitrust law. He is appointed as a legally qualified judge to the Local Division of the UPC in Munich. Tobias Pichlmaier is author of various publications (Patent Law, Copyright Law, Law of Trade Secrets) and lecturer in Germany and abroad.

Juliane is the Lead IP Litigation Counsel Europe at ZTE, a global leading provider of information and communication technology solutions, in Düsseldorf, Germany. She is responsible for ZTE's IP litigation, including IP Strategy and Policy throughout Europe. Since 2015 she defined the litigation strategy of ZTE in Europe and was involved in a large number of cases that specified the case law on FRAND matters in Europe. Before joining ZTE, Juliane was a senior associate at the international law firm Hogan Lovells (2008-2015) specialised in patent litigation. She studied law at the University of Halle/Saale, Germany and received an LLM degree from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Juliane is a registered lawyer at the Düsseldorf Bar and is fluent in German and English.

Sophie Cortier is since 2017 Essity's Senior IP Litigation Counsel and as such the operational Head of the IP Enforcement Strategy, and overall responsible for the lead and management of IPR enforcement activities, globally, in the Consumer Goods and B2B business. She is skilled in multi-jurisdictional IP Litigation. Prior to her current position, she worked as IP Director Consumer Tissue and Chief European Patent Counsel with SCA before the split in Essity. Sophie is a qualified European Patent Attorney, UPC representative, EUIPO representative and French Patent Design & Trademark Attorney.

Dr Sabrina Duschner is Vice President Patent Litigation Strategy at Fresenius Kabi, a global healthcare company. Her team focuses on risk assessment and minimisation strategies for the pharmaceutical and clinical nutrition sectors, with an emphasis on direct representation in opposition and appeal proceedings before the EPO. Dr Duschner has worked in intellectual property since 2007, including in the patent departments of Procter & Gamble and Merz Pharmaceuticals. She studied at the University of Mainz, obtained her doctorate in the field of the physical chemistry of polymers and has been an European Patent Attorney since 2012.

Raquel is an Associate General Counsel with Novo Nordisk which she joined as a Senior Corporate Counsel. Prior to that, she worked in private practice and as an Assistant District Attorney in Massachusetts in the US. She holds a JD from Washington University and a BA in Philosophy from Princeton University.

Laura is a senior intellectual property lawyer and engineer, specializing in developing and implementing global licensing and litigation strategies to drive business growth, particularly in disruptive technologies. She gained extensive experience working for an international IP law firm in London, with assignments in Singapore and Brussels, before joining Japan Tobacco International in 2016. At JTI, she is responsible for patent strategy across 130 markets and manages an international team of attorneys based in Geneva and Tokyo.

Joachim is a member of BOSCH's global IP expert team and is responsible for enforcing intellectual property rights, copyrights, and trade secrets. In this context, he handles proceedings worldwide and also attends trade shows in several jurisdictions to enforce the rights of the BOSCH Group. Joachim has been active in IP litigation for over 22 years now, during which he has handled proceedings in several European countries, the USA, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, Japan, and China.

Dylan LI is Huawei's Head of European IPR Department. Prior to this position, he was the Head of Huawei 2012 & New Technology IPR Department, managing Wi-Fi, multimedia and other patent portfolios and related IP matters. With his long-term experience with Huawei, Dylan leads Huawei's various IP practices, including patent transactions, patent alliance and consortium, patent licensing and litigations, IP strategy, policy, and M&A.

Nils Olsson has over 25 years as Director IP Rights with Axis Communications and handles all IP work within the Axis Group. He especially manages IP litigations on an international level for and against Axis. Prior to taking up the IP position, he worked as a Quality Assurance Manager. Nils holds a MSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Lund.

Eric is a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and a Doctor of Law (Phd) and holds the certificate of aptitude for the profession of lawyer (CAPA) and a Diploma in Patents from CEIPI (the Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies in Strasbourg). He has 25 years of experience in the intellectual property profession and has worked in the IP service of the Macopharma Pharmaceutical Laboratory, the firm EGYP (IP consultants) and the law firm Véron & Associés. He is Professor at the University of Lille (France) and Director, Litigation content strategy for the international IP case law database Darts ip, part of Clarivate.

Dr Carsten Szymanowski is a German Patentanwalt and a European Patent Attorney. He has been working as in-house counsel and in private practice for more than 20 years in an international context. As in-house counsel of Volkswagen AG he is currently responsible for conducting patent-related disputes both in legal actions and outside court.

Shawnna Yashar is Director, IP Litigation at Lenovo. She was previously Assistant General Counsel, Technology at ManTech International and Senior Principal Counsel, IP and Complex Commercial Litigation at MicroStrategy, Inc. Prior to going in-house, Shawnna was a partner at BakerHostetler in Washington, DC. Shawnna also clerked for the Honorable S. Jay Plager at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Virginia Carron, a partner in Finnegan’s Atlanta office, practices patent and trademark litigation and counseling. Her broad client base includes a large food and beverage company; a company involved in refining, chemicals and biofuels, forest and consumer products, fertilizers, polymers and fibers, pollution control and glass; an international manufacturer of hand-made cigars; and numerous international clients in various fields. Virginia has been recognized as one of WIPR’s Top 100 Most Influential Women in IP, an IP Star Top 250 Women in IP and a patent and trademark IP Star in Georgia by Managing Intellectual Property, as well as a Global Leader and leader in Georgia in private practice by Intellectual Asset Management. Virginia’s litigation experience includes numerous U.S. district court trials, trials before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Virginia counsels clients on intellectual property licensing and related transactional matters in both trademarks and patents for several Fortune 500 companies, including serving as the primary outside counsel to Imerys and its worldwide subsidiaries for all intellectual property matters. Her practice also includes inter partes review (IPR) procedures before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Constanze is a partner in the German Intellectual Property and Technology Group of DLA Piper and is based in the Munich office. Constanze is an experienced patent litigator who represents clients from various industries in complex patent infringement and invalidity proceedings. Constanze has substantial experience in litigating major patent disputes with a focus on infringement proceedings, including strategic advice and the respective antitrust advice (e.g. on standard-essential patents). Further, Constanze has particular experience in advising and representing clients in nullity and opposition proceedings with a focus on the IT (consumer electronics, telecommunications, media and technology) and industrial sectors, including the automotive, aviation and manufacturing industries. She also has experience in non-contentious client counseling, including licensing, M&A related advice and employee inventions as well as in Unfair Competition Law related questions.
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Mr. Gramenopoulos is a partner in Finnegan, Henderson's Washington, DC office. He has more than two decades of experience assisting domestic and international clients in the electrical and computer technology fields. Mr. Gramenopoulos is an accomplished patent litigator and strategic IP advisor, handling complex and high-stakes patent matters both in and outside of the courtroom and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Recognized by The Legal500 U.S. and IAM Patent 1000, he is the lead author of the acclaimed international treatise, Global Patent Litigation: How and Where to Win, published by Bloomberg Law.

Elliot has been advising Global companies on IP strategies for almost 26 years, the last 16 of these from Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, where he currently lives and works. He specialises in China patent and trade secret litigation. He represents Europe's leading companies in enforcing their patents and utility models and over the last 7 years or so has developed a reputation for defending them against patent infringement lawsuits brought by Chinese competitors.

Dr. Moritz Meckel is a patent litigator in Finnegan's Munich office. He holds a Ph.D. in physics and is one of only a handful of lawyers in Germany admitted as an attorney at law, a German patent attorney, and a European patent attorney. He represents clients in contentious matters relating to a wide range of technologies such as materials science, electronics, optics, medical devices, automotive, and mechanics.