Jump directly to main navigation Jump directly to content

Dr. Natalie Kirchhofer

Patent Attorney | European Patent Attorney
UPC Representative

Partner since 2018

Bleichstrasse 14
D-40211 Duesseldorf
Germany

Phone +49 211 90490-0
Fax +49 211 90490-49

mail@cohausz-florack.de

Detailed profile

Dr. Natalie Kirchhofer is a European and German patent attorney and an expert in the fields of (bio)chemistry, pharmaceuticals and life sciences. As a partner at COHAUSZ & FLORACK, she advises German and international chemical and pharmaceutical companies and biotech start-ups on all questions of intellectual property rights. Clients benefit in particular from her strategic advice, analytical skills, sharp-mindedness and talent for arguing cases at oral proceedings. Natalie Kirchhofer has already successfully conducted many litigation proceedings (in particular high stakes EPO opposition and German nullity proceedings), in which she attacked or defended valuable patents for a number of well-known companies in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. She has become an expert in supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) and is also active as an author and lecturer in chemical and pharmaceutical patent law.

In addition, she acts  as co-counsel, arbitrator, or expert witness in national and international arbitration or other ADR proceedings, especially in matters concerning complex IP (e.g., patent) and science- or technology-related matters including disputes arising out of R&D or licensing activities. In all these fields she can draw on her vast experience acquired during her work as IP strategy advisor, IP litigator, and advisor on IP due diligence in transactions.

Her biochemistry studies as one of the youngest students at the University of Tübingen were supported by a scholarship from the German National Academic Foundation. As Fulbright scholar, she spent an academic research year with Nobel laureate Prof. Günter Blobel at Rockefeller University, New York. She obtained a PhD in biochemistry for her research on DNA double-strand break repair mechanisms, which was supported by a scholarship of the Boehringer-Ingelheim Fund and conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich.

After her training in intellectual property law at COHAUSZ & FLORACK, the Distance University of Hagen, CEIPI, the German Patent and Trademark Office and the Federal Patent Court in Munich as well as a clerkship with the honorable Dr. Thomas Kühnen, presiding judge of one of the patent infringement senates at the Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf, she was admitted with distinction as a German and European patent attorney in 2014. She then joined the IP Litigation Practice Group of Ropes & Gray LLP in New York for six months, where she gained hands-on experience in US patent litigation and also took the US Patent Bar Exam. After her return to COHAUSZ & FLORACK, she gained inhouse-experience through a 12-months part-time secondment in the patent department of a major German chemical and pharmaceutical company.

Since the end of 2014 Natalie Kirchhofer has been a patent attorney with COHAUSZ & FLORACK, where she complements the firm's Chemistry, Pharma and Life Sciences team. Effective January 1, 2018, she was promoted to partner. She advises clients in German, English and French.

Recommendations

  • Who’s Who Legal - Patent Agent 2025  Thought Leader
  • Best Lawyers 2025
  • IAM Patent 1000 2024
    “an excellent patent attorney who understands the needs of her clients and responds to them quickly in a business-oriented and highly pragmatic way. She is a safe pair of hands for very challenging cases that require the highest level of expertise, as she works diligently, collaborates closely with her clientele and has high-quality scientific conversations with R&D experts to provide meaningful and clear opinions. Natalie is very articulate and is an effective advocate who clearly and succinctly presents strategies, arguments and complex facts.”
  • Leaders League 2024
  • Legal 500 EMEA 2024
  • Chambers Europe 2024
    “She learns very quickly and always has an eye for detail."
  • Chambers Global 2024
    "She learns very quickly and always has an eye for detail."
  • Legal 500 Deutschland 2024
  • Who’s Who Legal - Patents & Patent agents 2024
  • JUVE Patent 2023
    “persistently good” (competitor)
  • Wiwo TOP-Anwalt 2023
  • Best Lawyers 2024
  • IAM Patent 1000 2023
    “Natalie Kirchhofer is a highly talented advocate for even the most challenging dispute, opposition and appeal cases in front of the German and European Patent Offices and appeal cases in the German Patent Court. She is among the very best in Germany in winning oral proceedings. She is very articulate, possesses impressive understanding and delivers efficient argumentation. She and the C&F team work seamlessly to secure customer objectives.”
  • Who’s Who Legal - Patents 2023
  • WIPR Influential Women in IP 2023
  • Leaders League 2023
    (...) highly recommended for patent prosecution and recommended for patent litigation (…)
  • PROUT Executive Ally 2023
  • Legal 500 EMEA 2023
  • Chambers Europe 2023
    "In the area of pharma, Kirchhofer is a prodigy in my view when it comes to intelligence." "She knows all the details of a case." "Natalie is great for pharma cases."
  • Chambers Global 2023
  • Legal 500 Deutschland 2023
  • Who's Who Legal 2022 (Patents)
    "a top-quality patent specialist" and "leader in biotechnology matters"
  • JUVE Patent 2022
    "good strategist, impeccable legal expertise” (competitor)
  • Diversity Champions in IP 2022 - WIPR
  • IAM Patent 1000 2022
    "Natalie Kirchhofer dispenses a comprehensive suite of patent services and is a rock for life sciences companies. Highly regarded as a strategic counsellor, she is also a tencious advocate with an excellent hit rate in EPO oppositions and German nullity actions."
  • Best Lawyers 2023
  • Legal 500 EMEA 2022
  • Chambers Europe 2022
  • Chambers Global 2022
    "(...)she is brilliant, she has an excellent scientific understanding and is able to take a deep dive in the technological side of cases."
  • Legal 500 Deutschland 2022
  • Who's Who Legal Germany 2022 (Patents)
    "a top-quality patent specialist" and "leader in biotechnology matters"
  • JUVE Handbuch 2021/2022
    “simplicity and accuracy”, “creative and puts herself in the client’s shoes” (competitors)
  • Best Lawyers 2022
  • WIPR Leaders 2021 – Patent Leaders
  • Who's Who Legal Germany – Patents 2021
    "Natalie Kirchhofer is lauded by peers as a 'renowned and experienced biochemistry patent specialist'."
    "Dr. Kirchhofer’s talent for advocating and devising effective winning strategies place her among the most sought-after (bio)chemistry patent counsel in Germany."
  • WIPR Influential Women in IP 2020
  • JUVE Handbuch 2020/2021
    Führende Beraterin unter Patentanwälten (exzellente Erklärerin, Wettbewerber)
  • Best Lawyers 2021
  • JUVE Handbuch 2019/2020
    „oft empfohlen
  • WIPR Influential Women in IP 2019
    Als eine von 20 „Trailblazer“ ausgezeichnet ("identified as rising stars in the industry"; "destined for great things")
  • Best Lawyers 2020
  • LMG Life Sciences Star 2015

 


Publications