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Hoyng Monegier is a European IP firm established by former Howrey partners William Hoyng and Denis Monégier du Sorbier in 2011. It has offices in the capitals of the Netherlands, Belgium, Madrid and France. The Paris branch is led by revered litigator Monégier du Sorbier, who peers consider "one of the best lawyers in France". Despite its young age, the firm is among the elite of the country's patent practices, thanks to the work and expertise of Monégier du Sorbier. And, while not yet on a par with its reputation in patents, in trade marks too it has grown in prominence. In patents, it's instructed by Philips and Freyssinet, and in trade marks it acts for L'Oréal among others.

The firm joins the trade mark contentious rankings after recommendations from peers and clients and some recent successes in this area. "It is certainly involved in some major cases," says one peer. Another highlights partner Sophie Micallef.

One example of the firm's trade mark work was Micallef and Monégier du Sorbier's defence of L'Oréal against a trade mark infringement suit brought by Make Up Forever (part of the LVMH Group) which claimed the use of a trade mark by one of L'Oréal's subsidiaries was in breach of a coexistence agreement.

On the patent side, the firm has also secured some positive decisions for clients. Monégier du Sorbier helped Saint-Gobain win its pan-European patent infringement suit against Knauf in early 2012. The decision was contrary to two earlier decisions in Germany and Belgium that found there had been no infringement.

Clients are universally positive about their experience with the firm, particularly of working with Monégier du Sorbier. "He's very accessible, he gives a lot of time to his clients and he gets very good results," explains one. His technical understanding is another reason he is so valued. "He is a lawyer, but he is like an engineer. He really understands the how and why of technical matters," says another client.

Hoyng Monegier is a European IP boutique that is growing in stature. The firm has a dominant presence in the Netherlands, Belgium and France and a smaller presence in Spain. Despite only having six lawyers in Madrid, the firm and partner Luis Fernandèz–Novoa are known for quality. The firm has an impressive clientele that includes Philips, Coca-Cola and Hitachi Data Systems. The firm is strong in IP litigation and has a particular focus in patent disputes. "Hoyng Monegier is a new brand and has very good lawyers. It is in relevant cases from the Netherlands," one peer says. "It has Luis Fernandèz who is a good practitioner and quite a character."

The Madrid office is responsible for defining EU-wide brand and design protection strategies for Coca-Cola. It handles a brand portfolio of over 250 Community trade mark applications and registrations and over 300 Spanish trade mark applications and registrations for the client. It has also represented the client in over 100 cases, mainly involving Community trade marks.

In the Netherlands, Hoyng Monegier is located in Amsterdam. It is a European IP boutique that is continually growing in stature. This year the firm breaks into the second tier of the copyright table. "Hoyng [Monegier] has excellent copyright knowledge," one peer says. "Joris van Manen moved from De Brauw [Blackstone Westbroek] and he litigates in some serious copyright cases." However, it is in patent litigation that the firm truly excels and this year has been no different. It easily retains its tier 1 position and attracts the top mandates that the market has to offer. "Patent litigation is its core business," one partner says. "It has good lawyers and has built a good reputation." On November 1 2012, the firm boosted its life sciences regulatory practice with the hire of partner Carla Schoonderbeek from Hogan Lovells.

The firm also has a patent prosecution group that supports its litigators, advises on strategy and management, provides European and US patent prosecution services and conducts oppositions and appeals before the EPO.

Simon Dack, from the firm's strong pharmaceutical practice, acted for Sanofi against Teva in respect to its blockbuster anti-hypertension agent CoAprovel. Following the decision of the European Court of Justice, it was the first combination SPC case in The Netherlands. In 2012, the firm secured two ground breaking victories for Brein, the Dutch anti-piracy group, against the six largest Dutch Telecom Providers. The operators were ordered to block access to P2P website "The Pirate Bay".

In Belgium, Hoyng Monegier is based in Brussels. This boutique IP practice is the only European law firm entirely committed to intellectual property. In fact, the firm's approach in deriving strength through focus is paying dividends as its influence increases, especially in Belgium and the Netherlands. The firm is ranked in tier 1 of the patent contentious and copyright tables. It also has a strong EU regulatory practice in the life sciences and acts for clients such as Philips, Pfizer and SABAM.

The firm acted for Lundbeck in its litigation against the early launch of generic escitalopram products. It took over the case from counsel in Belgium and the Netherlands and by the time of the final judgment on September 17 2012, succeeded in completely reversing the first instance judgment in favour of the client. "Hoyng [Monegier] is very active in litigation," one partner says, adding that this is "especially [so] in pharma against generics". Additionally, the firm continued to act for the copyright society Sabam in its high-profile case at the Court of Justice of the EU against the ISP Scarlet.