François Legrand

François LEGRAND is a French and European Patent Attorney and an authorised representative before the Unified Patent Court (UPC). He is a partner of ALATIS, a French intellectual property law firm, where he advises start-ups, SMEs and multinational corporations on patent matters and complex intellectual property disputes. Trained as an engineer, he has more than 15 years of professional experience in patents, combining technical and legal expertise. His practice covers the acquisition, protection, exploitation and enforcement of patent rights, with a particular focus on patent litigation and complex technical disputes. He has extensive experience in assessing patent validity, infringement and freedom-to-operate issues, and in opposition and appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office. His practice also encompasses patent portfolio strategy, licensing and technology transfer, and the economic assessment of patents and of damages arising from patent infringement. He is regularly instructed to provide technical and economic assessments in contentious and pre-contentious patent matters, including in the context of negotiated and amicable dispute resolution. His technical experience spans mechanical and electrical engineering, mechatronics, materials, physics, industrial processes, robotics and automation, connected objects and embedded systems, as well as medical devices, energy and green technologies, and aerospace, automotive, agricultural and defence technologies. Since 2026, François has been an accredited neutral of the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC) of the Unified Patent Court for a five-year term, in the capacities of Member of the Arbitral Tribunal and Expert. He qualified as a French Conseil en Propriété Industrielle in 2014, passed the European Qualifying Examination in 2016, and has been entitled to represent parties before the UPC since 2023. He is a member of the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (epi), of the Compagnie Nationale des Conseils en Propriété Industrielle (CNCPI) and of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI). Within the Association des Praticiens Européens des Brevets (APEB), he has served as Treasurer, as a member of the Board and as Chair of the Patent Portfolio Strategy and Management Commission. He speaks and writes regularly on patent strategy, portfolio management and patent litigation. This combination of engineering training, extensive patent practice and experience in complex disputes gives him a multidisciplinary perspective on the technical, legal and economic issues arising in patent disputes.