Dr. Natalie Kirchhofer
Patent Attorney
Partner since 2018
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
- Chambers Europe 2023
- 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 Patent Ranking 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
Leading advisor among patent attorneys (“can explain everything”, competitor) - Best Lawyers 2021
- JUVE Handbuch 2019/2020
"often recommended" - WIPR Influential Women in IP 2019
Recognized as one of 20 "Trailblazers" ("identified as rising stars in the industry"; "destined for great things") - Best Lawyers 2020
- LMG Life Sciences Star 2015
Career
2018
Partner at COHAUSZ & FLORACK
2015
Inhouse-Secondment in patent department of a major chemical and pharmaceutical company
2014
Joined COHAUSZ & FLORACK as a patent attorney
2014
Six months secondment in the IP litigation practice group of Ropes & Gray LLP, New York
2014
USPTO Patent Bar Exam (for US Patent Agents)
2014
German patent attorney, European patent attorney and professional representative before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
2010 - 2013
Trained as a patent attorney at COHAUSZ & FLORACK
PhD from the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry in Munich (Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Scholarship)
Fulbright Scholar and academic research year with Nobel laureate Prof. Gunter Blobel at Rockefeller University, New York
Graduate degree ("Diplom") in biochemistry with major electives immunology and organic chemistry from the University of Tübingen, Germany (Scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation)
Memberships
Patentanwaltskammer, epi, GRUR, FICPI, VPP, German-American Lawyer Association, women in IP e.V., Fulbright Alumni, Alumni of the German National Academic Foundation
Technical expertise
- Life Sciences
- Pharma and Medicine
- Biochemistry
- Diagnostics and Medical Devices
- Genetic Engineering, DNA/RNA therapeutics
- Immunology, Therapeutic Antibodies
- Biotechnology und Molecular Biology
- Chemistry
- Polymer chemistry
- Pharmaceutical chemistry
Legal Expertise
- Patents
- Infringement proceedings
- Opposition and nullity proceedings
- Due diligence and freedom-to-operate opinions
- Validity opinions
- Arbitration, ADR
- Expert Witness Opinions
- Co-counsel Work
Publications
Double trouble
Intellectual Property Magazine, September 2021
A Practioner’s Guide to Obtaining U.S. Discovery in Aid of German Patent Litigation
Mitteilungen der deutschen Patentanwälte, 5/2015