Osborne Clarke hires new German patents chief

Osborne Clarke has boosted its Cologne office with the appointment of partner Michael Trimborn who will lead its German patent practice.

It is the first lateral hire to the firm's Cologne office since May last year when Osborne Clarke hired Anke Freckman to its employment practice.

Trimborn will focus on providing strategic patent related advice to the electronics, medical devices, automotive and mechanical engineering sectors.

In September Trimborn successfully forced Ferrero to drop its monopoly over the word kinder, the German word for children, on its popular Kinder Surprise eggs.

The ruling by a German court ended a lengthy battle between sweet manufacturers that had raged for years and marked one of the most significant business copyright rows of recent times.

Trimborn joins Osborne Clarke from Reimann Osterrieth Köhler Haft in Düsseldorf.