Santarelli

What Santarelli does

Santarelli is a leading French intellectual property law firm providing end-to-end IP services across patents, trademarks, designs, copyrights, domain names, and data protection. The firm structures its offering around three pillars — Protéger (protect), Valoriser (valorize), and Défendre (defend) — covering everything from patent drafting, filing, and international extension to IP strategy consulting, financial valuation, contract negotiation, and litigation before the EPO, EUIPO, INPI, French national courts, and the Unified Patent Court (JUB). Specialized practices include Standard Essential Patents (FRAND evaluation), AI and software IP protection, vitivinicole IP, and customs seizure/counterfeiting enforcement.

The firm is structured as a société par actions simplifiée (SAS) with €1,953,090 in share capital, headquartered in Toulouse with a major Paris office, and operates 16 offices across France, Italy, and China. It is led by Chairman Eric Le Bihan and operates within the broader IPSIDE Group structure, which includes an affiliated in-house law firm (IPSIDE AVOCAT) enabling integrated litigation capacity. The firm reports 230+ collaborators and 200+ IP professionals, including 95 French and European IP experts, with stated collective experience of approximately 150-170 years.

The business model is professional services, quote-based, with six primary revenue streams: patent services, trademark services, design protection, IP litigation and dispute resolution, IP strategy and valuation, and IP contracts. Customer segmentation is horizontal — spanning startups, SMEs, large French and European groups, public research institutions, and 3,500+ foreign IP firms seeking procedural representation before European IP offices. The firm reports an 81% patent delivery rate on 600+ annual innovations protected and manages 150,000+ trademarks and 20,000+ patents across its portfolio. Go-to-market relies on direct expert engagement, a client portal, content marketing via insights/articles, event-driven acquisition (UPC Aperitivo series, IFCCI x ANM Global webinars), and earned credibility through tier-1 analyst rankings (WTR 1000, IP Stars, IAM Patent 1000, JUVE Patent, Leaders League) plus quality and sustainability certifications (ISO 9001, ISO 26000, EcoVadis Bronze).

Name

Santarelli

Legal name

SANTARELLI

Website

https://santarelli.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1900

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Santarelli is a leading French full-service intellectual property law firm providing patent, trademark, design, litigation, and IP strategy services across 16 offices in France, Italy, and China, serving startups, SMEs, large corporates, public research institutions, and 3,500+ foreign IP firms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Law Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111), All Other Legal Services (541199)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Trademark Prosecution & Brand Protection (BPAHAMAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

IP Compliance, Anti-Counterfeiting & Enforcement (BPAHAMAK), Copyright Services & Content Protection (BPAHAMAC)

Keywords

• Intellectual property law
• Patent prosecution
• Trademark registration
• IP litigation
• IP strategy consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Patent Services: Professional services for patent drafting, filing, prosecution, and international extension. Includes patentability studies, freedom-to-operate analyses, and employee invention management.
2. Trademark Services: Trademark filing, registration, monitoring, surveillance, and defense services including oppositions and anti-counterfeiting actions.
3. Design Protection: Filing and management of registered designs and models, including international design protection strategies.
4. IP Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Litigation, contentious proceedings, mediation, and arbitration services before national courts and the Unified Patent Court (UPC/JUB).
5. IP Strategy and Valuation: IP strategy consulting, financial evaluation of IP assets, and financing support for IP strategy.
6. IP Contracts: Drafting and negotiation of bespoke IP contracts including licensing, cession, and technology transfer agreements.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Santarelli is a major French intellectual property law firm providing end-to-end IP services across three pillars: Protect (patents, trademarks, designs, copyrights, domain names, personal data), Valorize (IP contracts, IP strategy, financial evaluation, financing), and Defend (litigation, mediation, customs seizures, infringement seizures, Unified Patent Court representation). The firm delivers these services through 200+ IP professionals across 16 offices in France, Italy, and China.

Product overview

Santarelli is a major intellectual property (IP) law firm providing comprehensive IP services across three pillars: Protect (brevets, marques, dessins et modèles, droits d'auteur, noms de domaines, données personnelles), Valoriser (contrats, stratégie PI, évaluation financière, financement), and Défendre (litiges, médiation, saisie douanière, saisie en contrefaçon, JUB). The firm offers specialized expertise in essential patents/SEPs, AI and software protection, vitivinicultural sector IP, and Unified Patent Court litigation. Services are delivered through 95+ French and European IP experts across 15 offices in France and internationally. The portfolio includes both advisory services and representation before patent offices (EPO, EUIPO, INPI) and courts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Patent Services (Brevets)

Quantifiable outcome

• 81% patent delivery rate
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• La French Tech ToulouseminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLa French Tech Toulouse is shown as a partner logo. The firm supports the French Tech ecosystem and innovation community in the Toulouse region.
• CleanTech Open FranceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCleanTech Open France is shown as a partner logo, indicating Santarelli's support for cleantech innovation and green startup ecosystem.
• Centre Spatial de l'Université de MontpellierminorOthersSantarelli supports the Centre Spatial de l'Université de Montpellier as part of its science patronage and mecénat program, promoting scientific culture and awareness of space industry careers.
• FestiPREVminorOthersSantarelli supports FestiPREV, a festival encouraging creativity and expression among young talents, aligned with the firm's commitment to protecting and valorizing innovative ideas.
• UN Global CompactcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSantarelli is a signatory of the UN Global Compact (Pacte Mondial des Nations Unies) for several years, committing to its ten principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption as part of its RSE policy.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Regimbeau: Regimbeau is a major French IP firm offering the same breadth of patent, trademark, design and litigation services as Santarelli, with comparable partner-led engagement and a strong client roster of French corporates and research institutions.
• Marks & Clerk: Marks & Clerk is one of the world's largest IP-only firms, offering patent and trademark services across Europe and Asia — a direct competitor for cross-border IP mandates and a natural benchmark for Santarelli's international growth ambitions.
• Germain Maureau: Germain Maureau is a leading French IP firm, comparable to Santarelli in size and scope, serving French and European innovators and corporates across patent, trademark and design matters.
• Novagraaf: Novagraaf is a European IP service firm with a comparable transnational footprint and similar offering across patents, trademarks, designs and IP strategy — directly competing for the same foreign-firm representation mandates at EPO/EUIPO.
• Plasseraud IP: Plasseraud IP is one of the largest French intellectual property firms, directly comparable to Santarelli in scope (patents, trademarks, designs, litigation) and client base. Both serve French innovators and foreign firms seeking French/EU representation.
• Cabinet Beau de Loménie: Cabinet Beau de Loménie is a longstanding French IP firm with overlapping services in patent prosecution, trademarks and litigation, historically serving similar large corporates, SMEs and public research clients as Santarelli.

Broad incumbents

• Hogan Lovells: Hogan Lovells is a top global law firm with a leading IP practice (including SEP/FRAND) that competes with Santarelli for the largest European patent litigation and prosecution mandates across multinationals, but within a much broader legal services portfolio.
• Bird & Bird: Bird & Bird is a global full-service law firm with one of Europe's largest dedicated IP practices; it competes directly with Santarelli on French/EU patent and trademark mandates (and is a prior employer of Santarelli partners), but operates with broader corporate/TMT capabilities.
• CMS (Francis Lefebvre Avocats): CMS, through its Francis Lefebvre Avocats offering, is a major European full-service firm with a French IP practice that competes with Santarelli for in-house counsel mandates of French and European corporates.

Emerging players

• IP& (formerly Ipsilon): IP& is a French/European IP boutique with growing international reach, offering patent and trademark services comparable to Santarelli's and competing for the same foreign-firm representation business before EPO/EUIPO.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ipisyourfuture

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Santarelli