Christof Augenstein

Dr Christof Augenstein is founding partner at Kather Augenstein. He has worked as a litigator for more than 20 years and became a Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property in 2007, enforcing patents, trademarks, and designs in litigation and arbitration. Clients around the world value his advice, particularly in complex, technically demanding patent infringement cases. He has acted as first-chair lawyer in numerous standard-essential patent disputes. He also acts regularly as an arbitrator. He completed his training as a mediator in summer 2025 at the Konstanzer Schule für Mediation. Dr Christof Augenstein is widely recommended across the leading directories - Best Lawyers/Handelsblatt, Managing IP/IP Stars, Legal 500, JUVE, Chambers & Partners, Leaders League, Who's Who Legal, IAM Patent 1000, and IAM Strategy 300. In 2026, Legal 500 Germany named him "Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year," and Kather Augenstein won "Germany UPC Firm of the Year" at the Managing IP EMEA Awards - recognition of the firm's strong presence before the Unified Patent Court. He speaks regularly at national and international forums on the enforcement of IP rights. Christof authors and edits legal commentaries on procedural aspects of IP enforcement and the Unified Patent Court. He co-publishes an international commentary with fellow European litigators, contributes to the UPC Beck-Online Commentary on the UPC Agreement alongside appointed UPC judges. He regularly teaches UPC seminars for the VPP and at the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) at the University of Strasbourg, where he is also involved in training judges. Since 2014 he is the Chair of the Standing Committee UP/UPC at the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, (Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle - AIPPI). Prior to co-founding Kather Augenstein, Dr Christof Augenstein worked in various positions at prominent national and international law firms in Düsseldorf, Cologne, Paris and London. He holds a PhD in law from the University of Freiburg/Germany.