He joins the firm from French law firm August Debouzy. His practice covers all issues relating to patents and trade secrets, with a primary focus on domestic and cross-border patent litigation.
Lautier’s patent practice also includes patent drafting, patent prosecution, management of patent portfolios, as well as opposition proceedings before the European patent office (and now available before the French patent office). He advises and assists clients across a wide range of industries, most notably electronics, telecommunications, life sciences and transportation.
Lautier is one of a handful of French practitioners with a dual legal and scientific background, as he is qualified both as an attorney-at-law and a European patent attorney. After completing an engineering degree at SupOptique, Lautier started his career as a patent agent. He then completed a master-in-law and passed the French Bar exam.
He is also known for his expertise in trade secrets, which has become a new and growing area of law since the implementation of the EU ‘trade secrets’ Directive in 2016. Lautier has published a number of articles and worked on several cases involving IP and trade secrets.
James Hultquist, IP, Tech & Data litigation practice group leader, commented: “Thierry is a fantastic addition to the team. He is a very talented and commercially minded litigator, coupled with his background in science he will prove a very useful asset to our clients.”
“His arrival strengthens both the firm’s patent and trade secrets practices, which are growing in Europe to complement our well established practices in the US.”
Marianne Schaffner, head of the Intellectual Property team in Paris and of the Patent practice in Europe, added: “Thierry is well known in the French market as one of the most promising litigators. As a former engineer he has an innate understanding of many of our clients’ businesses. His arrival is an important milestone as we continue to develop our IP offering across our European footprint. We are very pleased to have him on board.”
Lautier said: “I am delighted to be joining Reed Smith. I was very attracted by its practice in patents and trade secrets due to their proven track records and excellent platforms in both Europe and the US. The firm’s collaborative mind set also perfectly aligns with my own approach to supporting clients. I am now looking forward to helping further develop the firm’s practice.”
Following the promotion of Sophie Goossens to partner at the start of the year, the Paris IP team is now made up of three partners and four associates.
Reed Smith’s Paris office comprises 80 lawyers, including 22 partners.