ABG IP hires new head for its engineering and ICT patent departments in Catalonia

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Cookies Settings

ABG IP hires new head for its engineering and ICT patent departments in Catalonia

Sponsored by

ABG Intellectual Property

Lluís Vilalta, who has over twenty years of IP experience, has joined ABG Intellectual Property to lead the engineering, physics, and information technology patent departments in the Barcelona office of the leading Spanish intellectual property firm.

10154.jpeg

Lluís Vilalta, who has over twenty years of IP experience, has joined ABG Intellectual Property to lead the engineering, physics, and information technology patent departments in the Barcelona office of the leading Spanish intellectual property firm.

Lluís Vilalta's brilliant profile includes his qualifications as a European patent attorney, Spanish patent and trademarks agent, and representative before the Unified Patent Court. His extensive experience before the European Patent Office has been recognised by IAM Patent 1000, the renowned international ranking specialising in intellectual property. In its latest edition, IAM Patent 1000 describes Lluís Vilalta as being “highly sought after for his ability to identify the most important elements of a case, and he scrutinises every brief with a fine-toothed comb”.

Lluís Vilalta, an engineer, is also trained in mediating civil and commercial issues, practices as a technical expert, and frequently participates as an expert in patent and industrial design infringement and invalidity litigations. Before joining ABG, Lluís was a partner and head of the patent department of a well-known Barcelona-based IP boutique.

Lluís joins the ABG IP department led by partners Fernando Prieto, Pablo Calvo, and Laura de la Vega, whose ranks include engineers from different fields, including notably aeronautical, mechanical, computer, and telecommunications engineering, as well as two PhD holders in physical sciences. With the arrival of Lluís, this team, which provides services to clients of all sizes, from startups and SMEs to innovative multinationals, in the public and private sectors, now boosts a total of eight European patent attorneys.

Leaders in European Patent Attorneys

In the word of Juan Arias, the Managing Partner of ABG IP, “the arrival of Lluís Vilalta means the strengthening of the area in our firm where we manage innovations such as medical devices or artificial intelligence, to name a few, and where the Catalan innovative fabric constitutes a true benchmark”.

ABG IP opened its Barcelona office four years after its founding in 2003. The company currently houses six of the 22 European patent attorneys in different fields of science and engineering, making it the leading firm in Spain in terms of the number of specialists qualified to act before the European Patent Office. In addition, the team has twelve attorneys accredited to act before the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office and three representatives before the Unified Patent Court.

“Since the founding of our firm, we have always put our faith behind talent and professionalism as the basis for distinguishing our firm and it is a real pride to bring together specialists of this level under the name of ABG IP,” enthused Arias.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Armstrong Teasdale’s Jim Heinen Jr discusses the challenge of balancing billables, business development and family life and explains why not all patent lawyers are science nerds
From cross-border jurisdiction to the end of the transitional period, Powell Gilbert’s Ioana Sabau and Bryce Matthewson predict the biggest talking points ahead
A wave of office launches and lateral hires reflect the draw of patent disputes, but booming AI, semiconductor and data centre markets are offering an even bigger IP opportunity
The hire of Frederick Nicolle as a partner continues Pinsent Masons' expansion while reducing Simmons’ patent prosecution offering in London to zero
The expansion into Granada forms part of a national ‘decentralisation’ strategy focused on providing proximity to research and tech businesses away from traditional hubs
Three successive wins have got the firm eyeing additional opportunities as ITC work booms
While many firms remain focused on generative AI, recent hires and practice launches suggest the next battle may be for lawyers who understand how AI is moving into the physical world
The explosion of data centres has prompted patent pool operators to create new licensing opportunities
The court struck out copyright claims brought by Ladbrokes owner Entain, saying that ownership details should have been completed before litigation began
Düsseldorf has overtaken Munich as the UPC's busiest division, while firms including Winston Taylor, Clifford Chance, and Hoyng Rokh Monegier featured in disputes involving Abbott, Essity, Amazon and Hurom
Gift this article