Press release, March 6, 2024
Meissner Bolte, one of Germany's leading full-service IP law firms, is continuing its strategic growth and further expands its patent attorney expertise. On March 1, 2024, seven patent attorneys from the renowned law firm Reitstötter Kinzebach joined Meissner Bolte. With this move, the law firm is strengthening its IP expertise in the chemical sector, making it one of the three largest IP law firms in Munich in this area. It is also expanding its network of offices throughout Germany and the UK.
"We are delighted that we have been able to recruit seven experienced patent attorneys to join our team. Their great technical and legal expertise in numerous specialist chemical fields distinguishes them, as does their strong commitment to the clients’ interests," says Dr. Stefan Zech, partner and patent attorney at Meissner Bolte. Meissner Bolte is thus adding strength to its already strong chemical division and sharpening its technical and scientific profile. The addition of these seven experts to Meissner Bolte is one of the largest mergers with regard to intellectual property in the chemical sector in Germany.
With its two locations in Munich and Ludwigshafen, Reitstötter Kinzebach is considered one of Germany's most traditional and renowned law firms in the chemical sector, with over 90 years of experience in advising and representing clients in all areas of intellectual property law. While the Munich-based patent attorneys Dr. Wolfgang Thalhammer, Andreas Rabe, Dr. Sebastian Walter and Dr. Sebastian Helmbrecht have relocated to the Meissner Bolte offices, the office in Ludwigshafen - in the heart of the Rhine-Neckar region with its focus on the chemistry sector - will continue to operate and will be run by Meissner Bolte as the eleventh office location in Germany. Patent attorneys Dr. Michael Pohl, Dr. Andreea Schuster-Haberhauer and Dr. Sehee Na work there.
„With our new colleagues, we are now even more broadly positioned, especially in prosecution, and have gained additional expertise in numerous areas of chemistry, including growth areas such as chemical solutions that contribute to the decarbonization of industry," says Stefan Zech. It is of great strategic importance to the firm that the Ludwigshafen-based office will in future continue to be located in direct proximity to the world's leading chemical and pharmaceutical companies in the triangle formed by Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. The client portfolio of the seven patent attorneys now joining Meissner Bolte includes the globally active, innovative chemical company BASF. In addition, a chamber of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), which plays a major role for the chemical sector, is located in the immediate vicinity on the other side of the Rhine in Mannheim.
"Right away, we realized that we and the colleagues from Meissner Bolte's chemical and technical divisions were a perfect match, both professionally and personally. In other words, the chemistry is right between us. We are now looking forward to working closely together on an interdisciplinary basis, thus exploiting synergy effects, especially with regard to the increasing importance of information technology for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries," says Dr. Wolfgang Thalhammer, partner and patent attorney at Meissner Bolte since March 2024, formerly at Reistötter Kinzebach