Global law firm Reed Smith has announced the appointment of intellectual property partner Anette Gärtner to its recently launched Frankfurt office, which opened last month. Anette will join the firm on 1 August 2015 from the Munich office of Clifford Chance, where she is currently counsel.
Anette’s main focus is patent law, in particular cross-border infringement and nullification proceedings. She also provides non-litigious and strategic advice on licensing programmes, as well as employee inventions. Anette has considerable expertise in issues relating to FRAND licensing and European copyright law. She also has broad experience in IP-related matters in corporate transactions.
Her arrival adds a new area of practice to Reed Smith’s new Frankfurt office, bringing the team to eight partners and one counsel, with market-leading experience in: finance, corporate, regulatory, private equity, real estate and intellectual property law.
“Our commitment to grow our full-service German offering continues,” said Dr Stefan Kugler, Frankfurt and Munich managing partner. “We have a well-established IP team in Munich and we’ve made a strong start to our launch in Frankfurt. Both will now work hand in hand to support clients across Germany.”
Reed Smith’s European IP team includes 16 lawyers across London, Paris, Munich and now Frankfurt, advising on patents, trademarks, copyright, design rights, unfair competition, product piracy, intellectual property transactions and information technology.
As part of the firm’s integration efforts, Anette will spend time in the firm’s Munich office to work closely with the Munich IP team, led by partner Dr Alexander Klett.
“One of our strategic goals is to continue to build our European IP team, working closely with our colleagues in the United States and covering both patents and soft IP across all our offices in Europe,” said Dr Alexander Klett. “The creation of the European Unified Patent System and the Unified Patent Court will impact the practice of patent law and particularly patent litigation in Europe. Therefore, Anette’s arrival not only builds our coverage across Germany, but will also ensure we’re in an even stronger position to support clients across our European platform.”
ENDS
Note to Editors:
About Reed Smith’s European IP practice
Reed Smith’s European intellectual property lawyers have strong technical credentials, IP litigation and trial skills, as well as extensive experience in a wide range of industries and complex technologies. They provide a full-service offering through offices in London, Paris, Munich and Frankfurt.
About Reed Smith’s Frankfurt office
Reed Smith opened its Frankfurt office on 1 June 2015. The Frankfurt team includes eight partners providing market-leading experience in finance, corporate, regulatory, private equity, real estate and intellectual property.
Partners include:
- Dirk-Peter Flor – Broad banking and finance
Dr Simon Gottlieb Grieser – Broad banking and finance - Anette Gärtner – Intellectual property law
- Rolf Hünermann - Corporate, compliance, regulatory issues, corporate governance and M&A
- Dr Andreas Jürgens – Acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings and corporate finance
- Dr Volker Kammel – Restructuring, insolvency, distressed M&A and rescue financing
- Dr Martin Meißner – Real estate
- Dr Octávio de Sousa - International M&A, private equity and finance transactions
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a global law firm with 26 offices and more than 1,800 lawyers in offices across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.
For further information, please visit www.reedsmith.com or contact Jeyda Star (senior PR & communications manager EME) on +44 (0)20 3116 2571.