The firm will open an office in Munich that will be led by Frank Peterreins and Alexander Harguth, formerly partners of leading German IP firm Bardehle Pagenberg.
Fish already counts German companies Porsche, Zeiss, SAP and Siemens among its clients in the US and says the new office will give the firm a home base in Europe to expand its global practice.
"Inventive corporations today need a worldwide IP strategy and are often involved in multi-national litigation, and a European presence will help us to serve those needs," said Peter Devlin, president of Fish & Richardson. "Munich is one of the most important technology centres in Europe, so this was a perfect location for our first office outside the United States."
New hire Frank Peterreins practices both patent prosecution and patent litigation and is qualified as a German attorney-at-law, a German patent attorney, and a European patent attorney. He has advised clients from a range of industries, including DVD makers, chemical companies, stent and catheter manufacturers and developers of high-end optical measuring techniques.
Alexander Harguth is a patent litigation specialist who has worked on a number of cross-border disputes. He is qualified as a lawyer in Germany and Paris and his clients have included sports equipment makers, automotive technology companies, dental equipment manufacturers and cosmetics companies.
The two partners will work alongside three other IP professionals, but the firm says it wants to grow to 12 practitioners by the end of 2008.
US IP firms have had mixed success in Europe. Howrey has built up a network of offices, including one in Munich that opened in January this year. Darby & Darby opened an office in Frankfurt last year, but Kenyon & Kenyon has closed its office in the city.
Many US firms, including IP specialist Fish & Richardson, have offices in Brussels, while some such as Morrison & Foerster, McDermott Will & Emery and Jones Day have IP lawyers in London.
According to Managing IP’s September 2007 survey of the world’s largest IP practices, Fish & Richardson was, for the second year running, the largest practice in the US – with 392 IP attorneys in 10 offices. Its biggest offices are in Boston, Washington DC, Dallas and San Diego.
The firm, founded in 1878, counts 3M, Bank of America, Microsoft and Novartis among its clients.
