Niels Hölder

Niels specializes in patent litigation. For more than twenty years, he has been representing and advising large and medium-sized companies in major international patent disputes in all fields of technology with a focus on medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotech before the Unified Patent Court, German civil courts (including the Federal Court of Justice), the European Patent Office and arbitral tribunals. Apart from infringement, nullity, entitlement and compulsory license proceedings, he is also experienced in negotiating and enforcing license agreements.

Niels is a dedicated litigator “who is particularly praised for his impressive work across the pharma sector” (Who’s Who Legal). Being determined to get to the heart of things, he “meticulously works his way into technical details” (Juve Patent) and “combines technical and legal skills to provide sophisticated representation in life science mandates” (IAM Patent), while never losing sight of the essentials. Clients appreciate the “very good advice” and the “high level of clarity” (Juve Patent). “Niels produces excellent written work and communicates effectively across borders. He stays focused on the business goals and provides clear guidance to that end. His advice is invariably detailed, yet high level and strategically focused on the big picture. The analysis was very technically and legally thorough.” (IAM Patent 1000).

Niels joined Carpmaels & Ransford in 2026 from a leading European IP firm. Earlier in his career he worked in the litigation and IP practice groups of an international law firm in Berlin, Frankfurt, London and Chicago. He has published numerous articles in the field of intellectual property and regularly gives lectures on patent and civil procedure law. He holds an LL.M. in Intellectual Property (Exeter/Dresden) and earned his doctoral degree with a thesis on cross-border enforcement of European patents, for which he received the doctoral prize 2004 of the Technical University Dresden.