(Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

Dentons has appointed Milan-based partner Giovanni Casucci as co-head of the firm's Europe patent litigation practice.

He succeeds Marianne Schaffner, who recently left the firm to join Reed Smith's Paris office to head its European patent litigation practice.

Casucci will be joint head of Denton's practice with Campbell Forsyth, who is based in London. Casucci will focus primarily on continental Europe, while Forsyth will focus primarily on the U.K. and the Middle East.

"While Dentons' intellectual property and technology practice has a solid track record of representing clients in IP litigation, we are seeing an increase in demand from our clients for quality, specialised advice in high-profile patent disputes," Denis Voevodin, Europe head of the firm's intellectual property and technology practice, said in a statement. "The time is right to firmly establish our patent litigation team as a standalone group."

Giovanni Casucci

Casucci added that patent disputes are increasingly multijurisdictional and the judgments often vary from one jurisdiction to another. "To offer our clients the best possible representation in cross-border disputes, it is absolutely critical to have an integrated team across Europe," he said.

Casucci represents clients in complex infringement and antitrust cases, as well as patent cases.

In addition to his role as Europe head of patent litigation, Casucci is head of the intellectual property and technology practice in Italy. He joined Dentons in 2017 from IP boutique Bardehle Pagenberg.

Campbell Forsyth joined Dentons in 2016 to lead and build the European patent litigation practice. He has acted on high-profile, complex and multijurisdictional disputes, with a particular focus on the telecommunications, electronics and life sciences sectors. He also has experience advising on issues relating to the interface of patent and regulatory law. Prior to his move to Dentons, he worked at King & Wood Mallesons.

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