Overview
Hon.-Prof. Dr. Henrik Holzapfel advises on all aspects of intellectual property law. He focuses on litigating patents, including the enforcement of patents essential to industry standards (SEPs) and FRAND defenses. Henrik also has extensive experience in litigating trade secret matters, employees’ inventions and trademarks. Other areas of his practice include drafting, negotiation and enforcement of business agreements such as supply agreements, IP licensing agreements and R&D agreements.
His clients represent a wide variety of industries such as automotive, IT, pharmaceutical, biotech, medical devices, chemicals and engineering.
Henrik has authored multiple publications on intellectual property law and is a honorary professor at the Leuphana University Lüneburg. Henrik is also a regular contributor to McDermott’s IP Update blog.
Results
Henrik advised:
- An American automotive supplier in patent infringement disputes in Europe and the U.S., licensing portfolios of standard-essential patents, and supply chain liability issues
- A Turkish consumer electronics manufacturer in patent litigation, licensing of portfolios of standard-essential patents and supply chain liability issues
- A large German chemical and pharmaceutical company on patent infringement issues
- A German family-owned company extensively on IP strategy and trademark enforcement, including coordination with global enforcement, particularly in Europe, China and the U.S.
- A Spanish family-owned mechanical engineering company in a series of disputes over infringement of multiple patents in Germany and Spain
Recognitions
- The Legal 500 Deutschland 2023: Recommended for patent law (“Incredibly responsive to our requests. He’s an experienced IP expert with great knowledge of high-tech.”, “Henrik Holzapfel convinces with outstanding expertise, creative solutions and a high level of customer and service orientation.”).
- JUVE Handbuch Wirtschaftskanzleien 2017-2023: Recommended for Patent Law (“extremely knowledgeable, good tactician and responds quickly”, “retains the bigger picture”, “very persistent”, competitors, 2022/2023; “tactically skilled and prompt in response”, competitor, 2021/2022; “has excellent knowledge of the standardization scene around mobile communications”, client, 2020/2021)
- IAM Patent 1000 2022: “A highly experienced litigator with exceptional responsiveness who always provides thorough work that is up to the highest standards”, “He provides refined legal and strategic advice to clients, is an excellent team player, is quick in providing in-depth analysis of the changing circumstances of a case and is able to produce well-developed response strategies”
- Thomson Reuters, Stand-out Lawyer – independently rated lawyers, 2023
- IAM Global Leaders Guide – Germany 2021-2022
- Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Strategy 300 2021: The World’s Leading IP Strategists
- IAM Patent 1000 2021: “Henrik Holzapfel operates with dexterity across the industry spectrum”
- The Legal 500 EMEA/Germany 2020-2021: Recommended for patent law and dispute resolution
- WirtschaftsWoche 2020-2021: Recommended as “Top Lawyer” for patent law
- IAM Patent 1000 2020: Highlighted by a client as having “a holistic approach, combining the view on the legal and economic aspects of the cases. He can look at complicated issues as a whole, seeing the important issues and resolving them. His negotiation skills are very good and in the courtroom, Henrik is also very skilled – he is always very clear in his presentation, and very good both on infringement cases and invalidity actions.”
- IAM Patent 1000 2019: “Henrik is an excellent litigator with an outstanding ability to handle cases holistically, managing their strategic and legal elements thoroughly”. “He has a ‘take-charge’ personality, in the most positive way. He has a very balanced approach, does not waste time and innately understands where he can add strategic value.”
Community
- European Patent Lawyers Association
- German Association for Intellectual Property Law
