Sandoz has been named In-house Team of the Year for Patent at the JUVE Awards Germany. The pharmaceutical company has established a successful patent strategy only three years after its spin off from Novartis. Clifford Chance won the trophy for Patent Firm of the Year.
The nominees for In-house Team of the Year for Patent represented various sectors, including life sciences, generics, telecommunications, and access solutions. Sandoz, a generics company, ultimately won the award.
Since splitting from Novartis, Sandoz’s patent department, based in London and Holzkirchen, has become a leading team. it manages successful patent litigation across Europe concerning blockbuster medicines, paving the way for the market entry of generics and biosimilars.
A key example of Sandoz’s success is its victory in defending against a preliminary injunction concerning its generic version of Bayer’s blockbuster ophthalmic drug, Eylea, in Germany. Bayer and Regeneron ultimately withdrew their application against Sandoz at the Higher Regional Court Munich.
Department head Julia Pike is shaping developments in the life sciences market far beyond individual cases. She provides impetus with an initiative against delaying tactics involving the filing of divisional applications for pharmaceutical patents. In collaboration with the University of Brussels, Sandoz has conducted a study that lays the groundwork for potential reforms.
Clifford Chance also celebrated a major win at the awards. The arrival of partners Tobias Hessel and Stefan Richter has established a formidable litigation practice, now recognized as a leading firm for SEP patent disputes.
The close relationship between the two partners and client Huawei forms the basis for new instructions, including against Meta and MediaTek. Other members of the Access Advance Pool also entrusted the team with a high-profile series of lawsuits against Meta concerning video coding. Clifford Chance has also shown it can represent both sides of SEP disputes, acting for patent users like Xiaomi and TP-Link.
Clifford Chance is skilfully leveraging its strong connections with life sciences clients to further expand its litigation practice. An example is its representation of Pfizer in extensive UPC proceedings against Promosome concerning mRNA patents. The young patent team has quickly caught up with market leaders by expanding beyond mobile technology and video coding.
