Simmons & Simmons has bolstered its intellectual property (IP) practice with a double hire from Reed Smith in Paris.

Reed Smith European IP head Marina Couste has joined the UK firm's base in the French capital today (18 December), alongside fellow IP partner Francois Jonqueres.

Couste and Jonqueres have been at Reed Smith since May 2011, before which they worked together at now defunct firm Howrey. Before that, Couste ran her own Paris firm, Couste & Couste, for more than 20 years.

Their clients include GlaxoSmithKline, Mitsubishi, Essilor, Nokia, Procter & Gamble, the Pasteur Institute and AstraZeneca.

They are joining Simmons with of counsel Romain Viret.

Simmons IP head Rowan Freeland said: "Their arrival reinforces our position as a strong and solid practice acting for many of the world's major companies. We are all looking forward to working with the new team."

The hires comes after Simmons recruited IP partner Michael Burdon, the former head of legacy Olswang's European patent litigation team, in London earlier this year.

International dispute resolution head Hans-Hermann Aldenhoff added: "This is the third lateral hire for the international IP team in the last year and reflects the continued growth of our practice and sector strategy."

Simmons has been rebuilding its IP practice since a flurry of exits last year. Four partners left to join Allen & Overy – practice head Marc Doering and City trio Mark Heaney, David Stone and Marjan Noor.