Who’s Who 2006

On the other side of the Atlantic, IP boutiques continue to flourish. This is particularly evident in France: where Véron & Associés epitomises the strength of boutique firms. Founding partner Pierre Véron, one of only 16 lawyers appearing in our global list of the practice area’s elite, was recognised internationally. Heavily involved with the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, Pierre Véron is joined by partner Isabelle Romet, who is recommended for litigation in the area of pharmaceuticals.”

Chambers Global 2006

Véron & Associés

“The Firm: Major international firms, as well as domestic competitors, acknowledge this 11-strong boutique as “our main competition for patent work.” The firm is well known for concentrating on patent litigation, and has recently seen a large volume of instructions from pharmaceutical companies in the growth area of infringement claims against generic manufacturers. By contrast with some other boutiques, Véron & Associés serves a clientele that is, to a large extent, international. The Lawyers: Competitors admire Pierre Véron as "someone who has completely dedicated his professional life to patents.” lt is therefore unsurprising that he is seen by many as "a true expert - the king of patents.” He divides his time between the firm's Paris and Lyon offices.”

Legal 500 Paris 2006

"Pierre Véron of Véron & Associés is highly praised for his work in technical patent litigation. Ten lawyers (also including Isabelle Romet, Thomas Bouvet and Sabine Agé) focus on patents, with representative cases including Rhodia/Asec, Daiichi Kigenso, Winthrop/AstraZeneca, Sandoz/Glaxo, Depagne/Sogexi. The firm is in Paris and Lyon.”

MIP World IP Contacts Handbook 2006

“The split between prosecution and contentious IP work in this year’s Managing Intellectual Property survey has led to substantial changes to the French rankings. There are 15 new entrants this year, 14 of them ranked for contentious work – nine specialist IP boutiques and five international law firms.

The split has also meant that some of last year’s law firms have moved up several rankings. One example here is patent litigation boutique Véron & Associés, which has moved up from tier four last year to become the top firm for patent contentious work. Alain Berthet, a founding partner at ProMark, described the work of the firm as “very reactive and intelligent”. Leading trade mark litigator Milan Chromecek of Lovells said he was “amazed that Véron weren’t in tier 1 last year”. Véron has two offices, in Paris and Lyon, and four partners devoted to practising patent law. Partner Pierre Véron who one peer considers “the best patent litigator”, set up the firm in 2001. Previously he created the IP department of Lamy, Véron Ribeyre & Associés (now Lamy, Ribeyre & Associés) over 25 years ago. Since 2001, the firm has built up an impressive client roster that includes Sanofi Aventis, L’Oréal, L’Air Liquid, Chiron and Agilent Technologies. Another high-profile client is Novartis, who Véron and fellow partner Isabelle Romet are defending in a case between the company’s Sandoz division and GlaxoSmithKline. Véron & Romet have also worked with the plaintiff Luk in the first case where the defendant alleges an abuse of dominant position through a patent filing policy. The defendant in this instance is Valeo.”