Thomas J. Adam is a patent litigator and partner of the firm. He is a certified specialist for intellectual property (“Fachanwalt für gewerblichen Rechtsschutz”) with his main focus on patent litigation and on driving amicable resolutions of disputes. With a PhD thesis on patent infringement and the doctrine of equivalents in an international context (LMU Munich) and a substantial tenure with the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Thomas combines a thorough methodological understanding of international IP law with 25 years of hands-on practice as a patent litigator in all the major venues in Germany. He has more than 150 trials under his belt, mainly pertaining to multi-jurisdictional patent litigation. Technical fields he has played on include, among others, electronics and mobile telecommunication, chipset design and OLED screens, but also medical tools as stents and heart valves, and car components. His work, which often includes coordinating cross-border litigation and parties in Europe, the US and Asia, has always been intertwined with opposition and nullity work and, at times, filing strategies. Thomas loves one of the key assets of the firm, i. e. working door-to-door with patent attorneys and other technical experts and the collaborative effort with these and the clients to achieve their business objectives.

For about ten years, he was a frequent presenter in the framework of symposia for national IP judges organized by the European Patent Academy of the European Patent Organization. As part of his pro bono work, he has been appointed a member of the expert committee on Intellectual Property of the Munich Bar. Thomas´ propensity to US companies goes back to his time with a high-school year in Minnesota some 35 years ago (Kirby Puckett anyone?) and Howrey LLP.

Thomas is a co-author with one current and one former Justice of the Federal Patent Court in the leading German commentary on the European Patent Convention (Benkard, EPÜ, 4th ed. forthcoming), including on the Unified Patent Court (UPC). German legal directory JUVE labels him as “frequently recommended”. Though, among other accolades, Thomas has been regularly selected by his peers for inclusion in 'Best Lawyers in Germany' in the field of IP Law, it is the long-standing loyal and the returning first-time clients of the firm that truly motivate him. In the last few years alone, Thomas has helped clients achieve settlements worth hundreds of millions USD.

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• Asserting a pioneer patent for an Irish client in the OLED screens arena leading to a very favorable settlement, including substantial remuneration for the University institute where the invention was made.
• Advising on an industry-leading patent portfolio in the OLED space and enforcing assets vis-a-vis mobile devices (favorably settled).
• Representing client in the field of streaming technology, cases settled favorably.
• Devising and obtaining a rare preliminary injunction for a market-leader in the field of heart valves, resulting in a very favorable settlement.
• Devising a strategy in patent entitlement proceedings pertaining to medical tools, enticing a district court to rewrite the law on the statute of limitations as to such claims.
• Advising on various infringement proceedings concerning car component suppliers including complex issues of prior use rights, accounting and computation on damages; favorably settled on a global scale.
• Acting for a TMT client before the German Constitutional Court in order to clarify basic issues concerning the treatment of expert evidence by the Federal Court of Justice in a patent nullity action re voice over IP technology.
• Advising a pharma client on the defense of its German patent and SPC on a blockbuster HIV drug and on enforcing the SPC vis preliminary injunction proceedings against generics.