14/01/16

Bird & Bird confirms launch in Luxembourg

International law firm Bird & Bird is delighted to confirm the launch of an office inLuxembourg, bringing the total number of its offices around the world to 28.

Following approval granted by the Luxembourg Bar, the office is set to open, 12 January.

One of the main purposes of the office is to support our work with the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Luxembourg, as well as our ongoing work in the General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union. The opening makes Bird & Bird the only law firm with patent litigation experts in every location where the UPC will initially be functioning.

In addition, the new office will further facilitate Bird & Bird's work with Luxembourg-based banking and finance clients, though it will not practice Luxembourg law, instead continuing to work closely with its existing correspondent firms.

Our new Luxembourg office will also enhance the cross-border service we can provide to our international tax clients.

David Kerr, CEO, Bird & Bird said: "Luxembourg is the seat of the UPC Court of Appeal and an important jurisdiction for the many of our IP clients, as well as for many of our financial services and tax clients, so opening an office in Luxembourg makes perfect sense for us."

Morag Macdonald, joint head of our international Intellectual Property group, said: "The establishment of the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court represents the largest change to patent law across Europe in 40 years. Our office in Luxembourg will ensure our leading patent law team in Europe remains ideally placed to assist clients with their patent needs."

Stefano Febbi, co-head of our Financial Services group, said: "Our Luxembourg base will enhance Bird & Bird’s ability to serve our financial services and other Luxembourg based clients."

Willem Bongaerts, tax partner, commented: "With our Luxembourg base we will be able to better serve our international clients."

In 2015 Bird & Bird was named "IP Law Firm of the Decade – Europe" by Managing Intellectual Property.

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