Christian Harmsen

Practice Areas

Intellectual Property

Career

Based in Bird & Bird’s Düsseldorf office, Christian is head of the German Intellectual Property Group.

He has been advising clients in all areas of intellectual property for more than 25 years. But his passion is technology. He advises leading technology companies in international patent litigation. Throughout his career, he has handled numerous high-profile cases for some of the world's largest and most innovative companies. He has also successfully represented mid-cap companies and obtained landmark decisions for them.

For many years, all relevant legal publications have listed Christian as one of the leading top-tier patent attorneys in Germany and Europe.

He also lectures and publishes regularly on various themes relating to the practice of intellectual property law.

Professional Memberships

Chairman of the GRUR – German Intellectual Property and Copyright Association / section West, serves on the GRUR committees on patent and utility model law

Member of the AIPPI - International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property

Member of the EPLAW - European Patent Lawyer Association

Member of the AIPLA - American Intellectual Property Law Association

Personal

Studies:

• Legal studies at the University of Hamburg

• Legal clerkship in Hamburg, Munich and Palo Alto

Admissions:

• Admitted to the German bar in 1997

Languages Spoken

German

English