Offices – Germany
Explore all Offices
Global Reach

Apart from offering expert legal consultancy for local jurisdictions, CMS partners up with you to effectively navigate the complexities of global business and legal environments.

Explore our reach
Expertise
Insights

CMS lawyers can provide future-facing advice for your business across a variety of specialisms and industries, worldwide.

Explore topics
Offices
Global Reach

Apart from offering expert legal consultancy for local jurisdictions, CMS partners up with you to effectively navigate the complexities of global business and legal environments.

Explore our reach
CMS Germany Abroad
Insights
About CMS

Select your region

 Thomas Hirse
Partner

Dr. Thomas Hirse

Rechtsanwalt

Languages
  • German
  • English

Thomas Hirse has extensive experience in patent and utility model law, including all related antitrust law aspects and questions related to employee inventions. In addition, he is specialised on trade secret protection and data protection law specific for life sciences and medical devices companies.

He regularly advises on technology-driven mergers and acquisitions as well as patent litigation matters particularly in the life sciences and medical devices sector as well as plant engineering and construction industry. He has extensive experience with the legal evaluation and enforcement of intellectual property, including development of IP protection concepts and strategy. Additionally, Thomas successfully drafted and negotiated numerous complex R&D and license agreements and handled IP-related issues in R&D and licensing collaborations for his clients, including related competition law and public funding and subsidy law aspects.

Thomas advises and represents clients in national and international patent disputes with respect to both enforcement of their patents and the defense against patent infringement actions, including representation in opposition, invalidation and cancellation proceedings. He regularly provides patent FTO-analyses.

He started his legal career with Linklaters in 2006, joined CMS in 2007 and was seconded to Bayer in 2010 and a global specialty chemical enterprise in 2013. He has been a partner since 2014.

Thomas is member of GRUR, LES, AIPLA, EPLAW, the Advisory Board of the Research Alliance Leibniz Health Technologies, Co-Head of the working group "IP and technology agreements" and active member of the working group "Technology transfer" of the German biotech association BIO Deutschland e.V.

Awards & Recognitions
01
  • Quote
    „Life Sciences und Medizintechnik zählen zu den Fachgebieten von Thomas Hirse, welcher zudem an der Schnittstelle zum Kartellrecht besondere Expertise aufweist.“, Mandant
    The Legal 500 Deutschland, 2025

Publications

  • Schriftenreihe des Max-Planck-Instituts für auslaendisches und internationales Privatrecht, Die Ausweichklausel im Internationalen Privatrecht - Methodentheoretische und -kritische Gedanken zu einer besonderen kollisionsrechtlichen Generalklausel, Mohr Siebeck Tübingen 2007
  • Kothe/Micklitz/Rott/Tonner/Willingmann; Das neue Schuldrecht - Kompaktkommentar, Kommentierung der Regelungen zum Leistungsstoerungs-und Ruecktrittsfolgenrecht, Luchterhand 2003
  • Beitraege zur Neuregelung des Leistungsstoerungsrechts im Rahmen der Schuldrechtsmodernisierung, VuR 2001, p. 99 ff
  • Die Prozessfuehrung durch den Versicherer (zus. mit Prof. Dr. Harald Koch), VersR 2001
  • Anmerkungen und Beitraege zu verschiedenen BGH-Entscheidungen zum Folgekostenstreit bei straßenbaubedingter Verlegung von Versorgungsleitungen in den neuen Bundeslaendern, NJ 2001, p. 459 ff

Education

  • 2005: PhD; thesis on international private law
  • 2003 - 2005: Trainee lawyer at Wuppertal Regional Court
  • 2001 - 2002: Friedrich Naumann Foundation PhD scholar
  • 2001 - 2002: Worked as legal expert for Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Verbraucherverbände e.V. in the context of the legislative process for the reform of the German law of obligations
  • 2000 - 2002: Research assistant to a Higher Regional Court judge and to Prof. Dr. Harald Koch, Chair for Civil Law, Civil Procedure Law, International Private Law and Comparative Law
  • 1995 - 2000: Law studies at the University of Rostock