Frodo Ferro

I am a Senior Counsel in our Intellectual Property practice in Amsterdam. I specialise in patent litigation and intellectual property transactions, focussing on technology, IP licensing and strategy in all field of technology.

In my practice of patent and technology related advise and litigation, I help companies in complex patent litigation and advise them broadly on their IP strategy and technology transactions.

I've always loved the interaction between law and technology. I have a combined law firm practice and in-house experience with a degree in Applied Physics (M.Sc.), specialising in semiconductor physics, as well as a degree in Commercial law (LL.M). This broad commercial, legal and technical background helps me in putting specific problems in a broader setting and see the issue behind the question of my client.

After starting in private practice, I practiced as an inhouse lawyer in the semiconductor industry. There, I worked on topics from patenting chemical compounds used in semiconductor processing technologies for power transistors to licensing software running on some of the most complex processors available. Working inhouse in the semiconductor industry taught me how to provide practical and, business-focused advice that meets the commercial needs of the clients in one of the most competitive and fast-paced industries.

The clients I have worked for are very diverse and international, from startups needing advice during the spin-out from a university, to large multinationals licensing in key-technologies or divesting large patent portfolios and operate in a wide range of fields, from medical devices to telecommunications and from planar antennas to financial software. For my clients I try to make the complexity disappear and handle complex negotiations, particularly in patent and technology licensing and R&D collaborations.

I worked for a decade in France where my responsibilities were global. During that period, I learned a lot about international law and similarities and differences between countries in their legals system. That experience still makes it easy to interact with people of different cultural backgrounds and to help clients with international issues.

• 1. Negotiating for a Dutch client long-term R&D collaborations with various French public research institutes in the semiconductor, technology and telecom space;
• 2. Conservatory seizure and subsequent settlement in a combined trade-secret, unfair trade practice and patent infringement dispute in the field of industrial valves;
• 3. Providing a competitor risk/opportunity analysis of large global patent portfolio in the field of automated warehousing and robotics;
• 4. Managing a global patent portfolio for a scale-up in the field of spinal implants;
• 5. Advising a Dutch trading company on infringement of a portfolio of patents in the field of 3D printing pens.

• Nikon v. ASML, part of the European team working on global litigation in the field of semiconductor lithography.
• Marchfun v. Ziggo, Dutch litigation in the field of community Wi-Fi.