Taylor Wessing has expanded its Unified Patent Court (UPC) capabilities with the addition of a five-strong patent litigation team from Simmons & Simmons to its Amsterdam office.
The team is led by renowned patent litigator Bas Berghuis van Woortman and includes Sebastien Versaevel, who joins as a partner, Diptanil Debbarma and Daisy Termeulen, who join as counsel, and associate Bouke Algie.
Versaevel, Debbarma and Algie began their new roles on 1 August, Termeulen will join on 1 December, while Berghuis van Woortman’s start date will be announced later in the year.
The popularity of the UPC, which was launched in June 2023, has prompted a hiring spree as firms move to strengthen their coverage in key UPC jurisdictions. The Netherlands has a local UPC division in The Hague.
The incoming Amsterdam team has expertise in telecoms, life sciences and high tech, advising on cross-border patent litigation and advisory work.
Wim Maas, head of patents and innovation at Taylor Wessing, said: “We’re building a European litigation team that reflects where the market is heading: complex, cross-border and highly technical. This addition in Amsterdam reinforces our ability to operate at the intersection of law, science and strategy, with the UPC as a natural playing field.”
Berghuis van Woortman joined Simmons & Simmons in 2009 after a decade at Freshfields, before which he was at full-service law firm Stibbe. He has acted in several high-profile UPC cases and litigates primarily in the life sciences and pharmaceutical sector, representing clients including Bayer and UniQure.
Versaevel spent nearly five years at Simmons, before which he worked in-house in the patents division of flooring company Unilin Technologies for more than six years. He began his career at Deloitte Belgium. He is a European patent attorney with a background in applied physics and a focus on litigation and licensing.
European patent attorney Debbarma spent almost three years at Simmons & Simmons, which he joined from Dutch IP firm NLO. He specialises in telecoms patents, freedom-to-operate analyses and prosecution.
Algie began his career at Simmons & Simmons in 2022 and brings life sciences litigation experience.
Termeulen joined Simmons & Simmons in 2017, where she is a supervising associate. Her IP litigation experience spans the pharma and telecoms sectors.
Berghuis van Woortman said: “The UPC is changing the way litigation works in Europe. This team is ready for it – technically strong, connected across jurisdictions and built to win complex cases.”
A Simmons & Simmons spokesperson said: “We thank them for their contributions and wish them well for the future.”
In May, Taylor Wessing announced the launch of a new dedicated patent litigation practice in Paris to boost its UPC capabilities.
Taylor Wessing is one of the most active firms at the UPC. According to recent figures from the European Patent Litigators Association, it ranked second in a list of law firms dealing with the most patents at the UPC.
Last month, boutique IP firm Powell Gilbert announced a new office in Düsseldorf in a bid to strengthen its UPC practice.
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