Freshfields

Firm overview:

Freshfields continues to advise global life sciences businesses on some of Europe’s most strategically significant patent disputes. The firm coordinates parallel proceedings across the Unified Patent Court (UPC), national courts of Europe, and beyond. A peer notes that the team is highly active in contentious patent matters; alongside this capability, Freshfields’ IP practice also covers transactional and advisory services.

Team overview:

Christopher Stothers remains one of the UK’s most respected cross-border patent litigators. A “very academic” practitioner, according to a peer, Stothers is particularly known for his active UPC practice. He has particular expertise in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and telecommunications, and is a visiting professor in IP and competition law at University College London.

Key matters:

• AbbVie: High-value licensing deal with RemeGen

Indicating its expertise in transactional matters, Freshfields acted for AbbVie in a high-value licensing deal with Chinese biopharma group RemeGen that could be worth up to $5.6 billion.

Under the deal, signed in January, AbbVie took exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise an antibody being developed for cancer treatment, RC148, outside Greater China.

• Moderna v Pfizer/BioNTech: COVID-19 vaccine dispute

Moderna secured a win at the UK Court of Appeal in August 2025, with a favourable ruling on its core mRNA patent. The court found the patent valid and infringed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Freshfields represented Moderna.

Clients:

AbbVie, Moderna