Fish & Richardson opens doors in Munich

IP firm Fish & Richardson is expanding its reach beyond the US, opening its first international office in Munich.

The office, which is due to launch at the beginning of October, will be headed by Frank Peterreins and Alexander Harguth, who are currently partners at Munich firm Bardehle Pagenberg Dost Altenburg Geissler. The intention is to house up to 12 lawyers in the office by the end of 2008.

According to the firm it chose Munich for its first foray outside the US due to Germany's technological excellence and the fact that the European Patent Office, German Patent Office and the German and federal patent courts are located in the city.

Fish & Richardson president Peter Devlin added that having an office that would be easily accessible by the firm's European clients, which include Siemens, Carl Zeiss and Porsche, was also an important consideration.

Peterreins practises both patent prosecution and patent litigation, while Alexander Harguth's practice focuses on patent litigation across multiple European jurisdictions.