Our services: litigation and advice

Actions, defence and evidence

• SMEs and mid-sized companies before the UPC : enforcing a European patent in eighteen States with a single action, or defending against one, on a budget defined from the outset.
• Infringement action : from the cease-and-desist letter to the assessment of damages, in France and before the UPC.
• Defence against an infringement claim : contesting infringement, attacking the title, regaining control of the timetable.
• Revocation action and counterclaim for revocation : before the Paris Judicial Court or the UPC, in coordination with the opposition before the European Patent Office.
• Provisional measures and interim relief : obtaining a preliminary injunction, or resisting one, before both courts.
• Saisie-contrefaçon : preparing the application, conducting the operations, then defending the application for withdrawal of the order.
• Evidence before the UPC : orders to preserve evidence and inspection measures.
• Proceedings before the Unified Patent Court : choice of division, language of proceedings, opt-out, interplay with national proceedings.
• Assessment of loss and quantification of damages : building the quantum and arguing the scope of infringing sales.

Arbitrage et résolution amiable

• Negotiating an exit from a dispute : settlement agreement, settlement licence, non-assertion clause.
• Arbitration, mediation and amicable dispute resolution : représentation et accompagnement des parties, négociation d’accords et interventions de Matthieu Dhenne comme arbitre.

Employee invention disputes

• Proceedings before the National Commission on Employee Inventions or the Paris Judicial Court.

Life sciences and pharmaceuticals

• Supplementary protection certificates : duration, paediatric extension, validity challenges.
• Launch at risk, generics and biosimilars : anticipating the dispute and proving imminence.

Patent licences and contracts

• Review of a licence agreement or portfolio : identifying the clauses that will decide the dispute: royalties, warranties, termination, governing law and forum.
• Drafting and negotiation : licences, assignments, co-ownership, confidentiality, technology transfer, research agreements.
• FRAND licences and standard essential patents : from the declaration to the standardisation body to the setting of the rate.

Employee inventions

• Classification of the invention and additional remuneration : characterisation, method of calculation, limitation.
• Negotiation with an employee inventor : remuneration agreement, settlement, interplay with the termination of the employment contract.
• Internal policy : remuneration scale, invention disclosure form, traceability of inventions.

Second opinion, readiness and funding

• Second opinion in European patent litigation : an independent view on a pending or upcoming dispute, without replacing the counsel already in place.
• Patent litigation readiness review : a maturity review that turns a diffuse risk into a ninety-day action plan.
• Preparing for a saisie-contrefaçon : response protocol, team training and simulation exercise.
• Access to patent litigation funding : assessing whether a case is strong enough to be presented to a funder, without ever handing over the strategy.

Audits and programmes

• IP diagnostic for a Bpifrance funding application or fundraising round : presenting the company’s assets, verifying ownership and preparing the intellectual property aspects of the funding application.
• Pre-litigation analysis under the INPI Pass PI scheme: for SMEs followed under the INPI Coaching programme, analysing a litigation risk, securing intellectual property contracts and preparing the quote submitted to INPI.




• Trade secrets audit and protection : inventory, reasonable measures, evidence and resilience against staff mobility and incidents.
• Intellectual property due diligence : an independent red flag review, readable by a deal team.
• Building a defensible patent portfolio | Dhenne Avocats : coordinating attorney, patent attorney and client to file with an enforcement perspective.

Local counsel in France and international

• French Patent and UPC Local Counsel | Dhenne Avocats : for foreign law firms and legal departments that need a relay before the Paris Judicial Court and the Unified Patent Court.
• Japan and Europe: patents and trade secrets : a gateway between Japanese companies and European patent litigation.

We act for claimants and defendants at every stage of a dispute: before proceedings, to secure evidence and select the forum, during proceedings, to conduct the case, and through to a negotiated exit or the quantification of damages.

Reading the patent, choosing the forum

Before acting or responding, three questions decide what follows: does the patent withstand the closest prior art , can infringement be shown claim by claim, and before which court should the case be brought.

The choice of forum is largely irreversible. The Paris Judicial Court, the Unified Patent Court and opposition before the European Patent Office do not offer the same timelines, the same territorial reach or the same exposure to the risk of revocation. We document this trade-off before filing suit, and we revisit it when the opponent opens a second front.

Litigation, urgency and evidence

A writ of summons received, a saisie-contrefaçon carried out at your premises, a product launch blocked by a competitor’s patent : the first decisions are taken within days and shape everything that follows. We conduct proceedings before the Paris Judicial Court and before the Unified Patent Court, and coordinate the fronts opened abroad.

Our services:

• Gather evidence of infringement through a saisie-contrefaçon
• Bring an invalidity action against a third party’s patent before a court
• Defend you against a patent infringement
• Defend you against an infringement of your trade secrets, including in saisie-contrefaçon proceedings
• Help you fight against unfair competition, particularly in the event of parasitism

Patent licences and contracts

A patent agreement is drafted with the dispute it will have to avoid, or win, in mind. We negotiate and draft the agreements that transfer, share or exploit patents and know-how :

• Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
• Patent assignment agreement
• Patent licence agreement
• Patent co-ownership agreement
• Technology transfer agreement
• Know-how licence agreement
• Employment contract (particularly for confidentiality clauses or potential employee inventions)
• Partnership agreement including aspects of intellectual property

Each engagement begins with a scoping discussion to check for conflicts of interest and define the question to be addressed. A written proposal sets out the scope, deliverables, timetable and fees. A focused team led by Matthieu Dhenne conducts the work and presents its findings and recommendations. Any further assistance is covered by a separate proposal.