BDPE

Patent Litigation

Equity Partner, Patent Attorney

Dr. Friedrich Emmerling (Fritz) is an equity partner at BDPE in Munich and a leading German patent attorney specializing in high-stakes patent litigation, with over 20 years’ experience, including more than 15 years focused exclusively on disputes.

He is widely recognized for his expertise in standard essential patents (SEPs) and FRAND issues, and is consistently ranked by leading directories including IAM Patent 1000, Chambers, Legal 500, JUVE and Managing IP Stars.

Dr Emmerling has acted in over 400 patent infringement, nullity and opposition cases, successfully representing clients before the European Patent Office (EPO), German Courts, and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). His practice covers both enforcement and defense strategies, often in parallel multi-jurisdictional proceedings coordinated with international law firms.

He has played a key role in several landmark SEP disputes shaping European case law, including Huawei v. MediaTek, Huawei v. Netgear, Huawei v. Amazon, Huawei v ZTE, Unwired Planet v Huawei and the Intellectual Ventures litigation against Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Telefónica Huawei etc., Conversant v Huawei, Nokia v. Daimler and other major SEP disputes before German courts, the EPO, and the UPC. He also acted in SolarEdge v Huawei, a major renewable energy dispute involving complex technical evidence and testing procedures.

His technical expertise spans mobile communications, automotive technology, semiconductors (including storage technologies), software, video and audio coding, and photovoltaics, supported by a PhD in physics from the Technical University of Munich and prior experience in the software industry.

In addition to litigation, he advises on patent strategy and portfolio management, with particular experience in opposition and nullity proceedings conducted in parallel with infringement actions.

Before co-founding BDPE, he spent eight years at Bird & Bird, including as a partner. He is known for his strategic approach, technical precision and effectiveness in complex, multi-party disputes.

German, English

• epi – European Patent Institute

• FICPI – Internationale Föderation von Patentanwälten

• GRUR – Deutsche Vereinigung für gewerblichen Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht

• IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

• Patentanwaltskammer

Technische Universität München