Expert opinions on French and European patent law

A dispute before a foreign court may turn on French law: the validity or scope of a French patent, a licence agreement governed by French law, a FRAND commitment given to ETSI, or the rules on employee inventions. It may also turn on European patent law, whether the European Patent Convention, the case law of the European Patent Office or that of the Unified Patent Court.

The court then needs a reliable statement of that law, of its state at the relevant date and of the questions that remain open.

Matthieu Dhenne, the founder of the firm, is regularly consulted as an expert on French patent law and European law in proceedings before foreign courts. This largely reflects his academic work, carried on alongside his practice as an attorney: he teaches patent law at Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas and publishes regularly on these questions in specialist journals and books.

The opinion sets out the law as it stands, distinguishes the prevailing interpretation from contested points and identifies where French or European case law is not yet settled.

Scoping comes before drafting: the questions put, the law applicable at the relevant date, the form expected by the court and the procedural timetable. The firm runs a conflict check before taking on any instruction.

The sources cited are primary sources, checked and precisely referenced. The opinion is drafted in French or English as the proceedings require and, where the procedure provides for it, can be presented orally before the court.

Foreign counsel and parties to proceedings before a foreign court, where the outcome depends on a question of French or European patent law. The same analysis also informs the preparation of multi-jurisdictional litigation, before proceedings are even issued.