Agathe Michel-de Cazotte
Partner
Agathe is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution practice group. She represents clients in major cross-border patent litigations and in innovation-heavy transactions. She has successfully litigated in France, the UK, and Germany, and has represented clients in EPO oppositions for over ten years. As a result, Agathe understands the practicalities of a successful litigation strategy when it involves multiple countries and has coordinated parallel cases in more than 25 countries.
With her very rich and diverse experience in European courts, Agathe has a particular interest in the UPC and has been advising clients on unitary patent related questions for several years. She also advises, notably tech clients, on the best way to implement the most appropriate IP strategy. Agathe has been representing clients in the UPC since day 1, she is involved in actions on the merits (both infringement and revocation claims and counterclaims), as well as PIs and has won several UPC appeal hearings on procedural issues. Her clients in the UPC involve Sanofi, Regeneron, and CurioBioscience.
Her practice has a strong focus on pharma, chemistry, telecom, and high-tech matters where she makes the most of her physics degrees. She has extensive experience defending telecom innovators in SEP (including FRAND issues) and NEP litigation, as well as pharma clients in blockbuster formulation, method of treatment and second medical use patents against launches of biosimilars and generic products.
She has defended major multinational companies as well as highly innovative SMEs including crafting the litigation strategy, drafting submissions and doing the oral advocacy in patent infringement suits, and in opposition and revocation proceedings before the various infringement courts in Germany (including Mannheim, Düsseldorf, Munich and Karlsruhe), the German Federal Patent Court, the German Federal Court of Justice (all instances), the French Civil Courts, the UK High Court and the IPEC, the European Patent Office and both the French and German Patent and Trademark Offices.
Agathe advises global companies on critical agreements involving their technology and develops creative strategies to protect their innovations across Europe. Her time spent in-house with major blue-chip companies has given her a sound understanding of the technological and business drivers behind agreements and litigation related decisions.
Working on a continuous basis with the pharma and energy sectors, she knows the importance of the interactions with the regulator and the impact they can have on litigation/commercial negotiation timing. She particularly enjoys working in a fast-paced multi-cultural environment. Agathe also teaches Innovation Management to business students at City, University of London, which allows her to think about IP from a different perspective and remain as creative as possible.
Qualifications
- MSc in Photonics (IOGS, France)
- MSc in Microelectronics (NTU, Singapore)
- MA in Business Law (Sciences Po Paris, France)
- Admitted to the Paris Bar
- Registered lawyer at the Dusseldorf Bar
- UPC Representative
Key Cases
- CFI 1/2023 Sanofi-Aventis v Amgen, Inc (UPC Central Division)
- CFI 14/2023 Amgen, Inc. v Regeneron and Sanofi (UPC Local Division Munich)
- CFI 463/2023 10x Genomics v Curio Bioscience (UPC Local Division Düsseldorf)
- HTC v FIPA – Litigation on a bundle of SEPs and NEPs.
- Sony Mobile Communications International AB v WILAN (Wireless future technologies Inc) – Litigation on a 3G essential patent with several co-defendants.
- Merck Sharp Dohme v Wyeth – Litigation (double space) against launch of Pfizer pneumoccocal vaccine based on MSD’s patents.
- F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG (“Roche”) v Sandoz, Mundipharma et al. – Litigation strategy and coordination on two second medical use patents against launch of biosimilar products throughout the EP countries.
- Agfa Graphics v DuPont de Nemours – Litigation on several patents relating to a flexographic printing method and plate precursor involving a prior use as well as an implied license argument.
- Nikon Corporation v Carl Zeiss – Litigation on several patents relating to parts of the optical apparatus following lapse of large cross-licensing agreement.