Dr Christof Augenstein

Lawyer

Vita

My name is Christof Augenstein. I am founding partner of Kather Augenstein and have more than 20 years of experience as a litigator in the litigation of intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks and designs.

The focus of my work is on extensive, technically complex and often cross-border patent infringement proceedings. These can be, but do not have to be, the biggest in the industry. I advise start-ups, scale-ups, medium-sized companies, hidden champions as well as Dax 40 corporations and international conglomerates. My clients come from a wide variety of technical sectors – such as telecommunications, chemicals, automotive, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

I enjoy familiarising myself with new technical issues, penetrating them in order to develop a convincing argumentation for the respective case on this basis. This requires not only inquisitiveness and tenacity, but also a dash of creativity in order to use procedural opportunities and legal situations to the client’s advantage. It is precisely then that one manages to break down even complex matters in such a way that they are easy to understand. I therefore see my task in particular as a link between researchers on the one hand and judges on the other.

Patent infringement proceedings on standard-essential patents are another focus of my work. I count leading telecommunications companies worldwide among my clients and have been at the forefront of SEP litigation for more than 10 years.

My assistant is Saskia Helten.

Due to our structure and team structure, we are able to form a suitable team for each client – no matter the size.

Dr Christof Augenstein, Partner

In addition, I am involved in various publications on patent law, in particular on the Unified Patent Court (UPC), and I am active in international organisations and professional associations. For example, I am Chairman of the Standing Committee Unitary Patent/Unifled Patent Court {UP/UPC) Q 243 and a member of the Standing Committee Enforcement Q 224 at AIPPI (Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriete lntellectuelle – International Association for the Protection of lntellectual Property).

At the Association of Intellectual Property Professionals (VPP), I regularly give seminars on the UPC and German patent infringement litigation. In addition, I am a lecturer on the UPC at the AH Akademie Heidelberg and at CEIPI (Center for International Intellectual Property Studies at the University of Strasbourg), where, among other things, I have been involved in the training of the newly appointed technical UPC judges.

I also contribute to commentaries on intellectual property law, in particular on the UPC:

  • Co-editor and author of the international commentary Augenstein/Wilson/Agé on the procedural law of the Unified Patent Court, (Hart Publishing/Beck-Verlag, expected publication date autumn 2023).
  • Author on the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in the Beck Online Commentary Fitzner/Lutz/Bodewig (already available online).
  • Author in Cepl/Voß, Prozesskommentar zum Gewerblichen Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht, §§ 402-420, 432, 434, 435 (expert opinions and documentary evidence).
Representative cases
  • Lead counsel in a series of lawsuits brought by a leading global telecommunications company against Apple for infringement of standard-essential patents (LTE/5G) and implementation patents (for more information, click here).
  • Representing a manufacturer of app-based telematics platforms in a patent dispute concerning telematics tariffs against a major German insurance company.
  • Lead counsel in a series of lawsuits brought by a leading global telecommunications company against Samsung for infringement of standard-essential patents (LTE/5G) and implementation patents (further information can be found here).
  • Representation in the first patent infringement case against a German car manufacturer in the field of telecommunications (further information can be found here).
  • Representation in a competition case concerning competitive distinctiveness and imitation of a natural stone paving (OLG Köln GRUR 2017, 1159 – Natursteinpflaster).
  • Lead counsel in a series of lawsuits brought by a leading global telecommunications company against Apple for infringement of standard-essential patents (GSM/AMR/LTE) and implementation patents.
  • Leading the defence of a European DVD manufacturer against a total of nine patent infringement actions brought by members of the MPEG2 consortium before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and participating in the proceedings before the Federal Court of Justice (BGH GRUR 2012, 1230 – MPEG 2 – video signal coding).
  • Representation of a leading manufacturer of mobile phones in patent infringement proceedings due to the use of the Android operating system.
  • Representation of a trade mark manufacturer due to the imitation of the design of a ready-made pudding by a food discounter (OLG Düsseldorf IPRB 2013, 35-36).
  • Representation in patent infringement proceedings concerning an electron beam therapy device (parallel infringement proceedings to nullity decision BGH GRUR 2012, 475 – Elektronenstrahltherapiesystem).
  • Representation of an automotive supplier for unlawful taking of an invention by an employee (BGH GRUR 2011, 733 – Initialidee).
  • Representation of a leading automotive supplier in patent infringement proceedings (also preliminary injunction proceedings) against a competitor (OLG Düsseldorf, GRUR-RR 2011, 81 – Gleitsattelscheibenbremse I + II).
  • Participation in a competition case concerning misleading advertising of an onion and vegetable cutter (OLG Hamburg WRP 2006, 1152 – Im Handumdrehen).
Publications
  • No interim suspension of enforcement in case of arguable decision on FRAND objection, OLG Karlsruhe, decision of 14.9.2022 – 6 U 212/22, GRUR Prax 2022, 692 (co-author Dr Benedikt Walesch).
  • No joinder of parties in an isolated decision on costs, BPatG, decision of 27.01.2022 – 35 W (pat) 1/20, GRUR-Prax 2022, 211 (co-author Carsten Plaga)
    No discontinuation of compulsory enforcement for licence unwilling parties, OLG Düsseldorf, order of 14.07.2021 – I-2 U 13/21, GRUR Prax 2021, 636 (co-author Dr. Katharina Brandt)
  • Everything new with question marks – How will the European Patent Court work?, guest article FAZ, Düsseldorf, 18 April 2017.
  • Co-editor Augenstein/Wilson/Agé, Unified Patent Court Procedure, C.H.Beck/Hart Publishing, expected publication date, 1st half of 2019.
  • UK to become part of Unified Patent Court – London transfers sovereignty rights to EU despite Brexit vote, Börsen-Zeitung, 17 December 2016
  • Analogous application of secrecy rules in main proceedings, Festschrift 80 Jahre Patentgerichtsbarkeit in Düsseldorf, 10/2016, pp. 25-36
  • Prozesskommentar zum Gewerblichen Rechtsschutz, C.H.BECK – (Compare also discussion by Grabinski, in: GRUR 2015, 244).
  • Further restrictions of competition in licence agreements before arbitration courts?, Platow Online 2012
  • Comment on BGH: No implied non-challenge obligation of an entitled third party, decision discussion on the order of 24.01.2011 – X ZB 33/08, GRUR-Prax 2011, 148
  • Comment on BPatG: The upper limit of the amount in dispute is 500,000 euros in the case of unsubstantiated submissions, discussion of the decision of 17 December 2009 – 35 W (pat) 26/09, GRUR-Prax 2010, 231
  • Suspension of patent infringement proceedings after amendment of patent claims, GRUR 2008, 457
  • Faster and Cheaper to the European Patent, VDI-Nachrichten 18/2006
  • Legal basis of the distribution plan of copyright collecting societies, UFITA Schriftenreihe Bd. 222, 2004
Lectures
  • SEP Landscape in EU and Germany, SEP Research Group Annual Workshop 2022, 16.03.2022
  • The infringement process before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) – possibilities and pitfalls of the new rules of procedure, VPP Spring Symposium 2022, 13.05.2022
  • Get Ready for the UPC, CEIPI -DU Patent Litigation in Europe in Strasbourg, 21.05.2022
  • The infringement process before the Unified Patent Court (UPC), VPP Seminar, 02.06.2022 to 03.06.2022
  • Participation in the UPC Technical Judges Training – Mock Trail on 08.10.2022 in Paris
  • The Infringement Process, VPP Seminar, 13.10.2022 to 15.10.2022
  • Annual Conference on Trade Mark and Design Law in the EU 2022, Academy of European Law Trier (ERA), 26.10.2022
  • The infringement process before the Unified Patent Court (UPC), VPP Seminar, 03.11.2022 to 04.11.2022
  • FRAND – Update and Outlook, Forum Institute, 08.12.2022
  • Pre-suit and pleadings, Heidelberg Academy – UPC Colloqium, 18.11.2022
  • Substantive Law in the UPC Agreement, Akademie Heidelberg – UPC Colloqium, 29.04.2022
  • The state of play with SEPs in an Unwired World, Online Seminar, 19 November 2020
  • SEP2020: Global Licensing of Patent Portfolios After Unwired Planet and Sisvel, IPWatchdog, Online Seminar, 10 November 2020
  • Host of the panel session: Keeping two tracks on track: litigating in a bifurcated system, AIPPI World Congress, Online Seminar, 7 October 2020
  • Sisvel ./. Haier; The first FRAND decision of the BGH: Guideline or individual case?, VPP District Group South-East, Munich, 22 September 2020.
  • On a collision course? Patents, Standards & Injunctions in the Automotive Field, IPBC Connect, Online-Seminar, 17 September 2020
  • German Federal Court of Justice – Sisvel vs. Haier, IPO’s Standards Setting Committee, New York/ USA, 13 May 2020
  • The future of the Unified Patent Court, Houston Intellectual Property Association (HIPLA), Houston/USA, 16 April 2020
  • FRAND Update Europe, Patski, Whistler Canada, 4 March 2020
  • How to protect technology; enforcement of patents in Europe – today and in the future, EPIN Congress University of Maastricht, The Netherlands, 22 January 2020
  • SEP Litigation in Germany – Update, SEP Research Group, Ministry of Justice, Tokyo, Japan, 2 November 2018
  • Judicial Symposium on Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property High Court, Tokyo, Japan, 31 October 2018
  • Ericsson IPR Summit 2018, Gothenburg, Sweden, 21-24 May 2018.
  • The Infringement Process, VPP Seminar, Mannheim, Germany, 15-17 March 2018.
  • Lecture on seminar series “Intellectual Property”, DAA, Stuttgart, 23 June 2017
  • German and UPC Patent Infringement Litigation Proceedings, Akademie für Fortbildung Heidelberg, Munich, 22-24 November 2017
  • German/UPC infringement proceedings, JETRO, Tokyo, Japan, 11 October 2017
  • Protection of Patents, 32nd Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Course, Düsseldorf, 24 June 2016
  • Civil Law for the Patent Department, VPP Special Seminar, Maritim Hotel Ulm, 3-5 March 2016.
  • Unitary Patent Package, Euroforum, Mövenpick Hotel Amsterdam City Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 4 February 2016
  • UPC Mock Trial, Korean Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (KILPA), Seoul, South Korea, 22 April 2015
  • 10th Anniversary Symposium of IP High Court of Japan, FRAND case study, Tokyo, Japan, 20 April 2015
  • The infringement process, VPP Seminar, Hilton Cologne, Cologne 20-22 November 2014
  • The New Patent System in Europe, Canadian-German Chamber of Commerce, Toronto, Canada, 17 September 2014
  • Bifurcation in Germany – the practice of patent infringement courts and the future under the Unified Patent Court, annual meeting, Svenska Industrins IP Förening (SIPF), Stockholm, Sweden, 6 February 2014

Christof Augenstein is very client-oriented and proactive. He also has a comprehensive overview of both the legal and technical side in complex cases.

Legal 500 Deutschland, Ranking 2022