The IP World
The field of Intellectual Property (IP) has many facets - the main areas and aspects of our typical professional services are described in more detail below.
We are, of course, active in other areas of IP - please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Patents - Utility models
Patents and utility models ("petty patents") can protect the technical aspects of your good ideas. If the legal requirements are met, in particular a sufficient degree of "inventiveness", you have a very powerful tool to effectively enforce your rights if necessary. We identify valuable inventions in close cooperation with the inventors, draft the necessary applications for you and prosecute the applications after filing. We also handle the renewal of patents and patent applications entrusted to our firm.
Trademarks
Your good ideas usually need good marketing to be commercially successful. A registered trademark is the intellectual property right of choice to distinguish your goods and services from those of your competitors. We advise you on appropriate trademark strategies and prosecute the applications to implement the trademark strategy. We also manage your trademark portfolio, carefully managing the relatively long renewal periods.
Designs
In today's competitive environment, technical superiority alone is often no longer enough to attract consumers and business customers. Registered and unregistered design protection can help you keep your competitors at bay. We can work with you to determine what type of design protection is appropriate for your needs and how to obtain it. We will then handle the registration and renewal procedures.
Consulting
Licensing
Intellectual property (IP) rights can be licensed in many different ways. If you wish to enter this economically very interesting and legally challenging field, either as the owner of IP rights and thus as a licensor, or as an interested user of third-party IP rights and thus as a licensee, we will advise you in detail and, if you wish, draft and check license agreements for you.
Employee Inventions
Especially in Germany, the law on employee inventions is important for both employers and employees. Employers are particularly interested in legally compliant internal processes and employees in remuneration issues. We can advise you on all the sometimes tricky issues in this area of law.
Infringements
Enforceable intellectual property rights (IPR) give IPR owners fairly broad rights. Competitors of IPR owners may infringe other IPR. The question is: what should I do, what can I do? Such questions are certainly among the most complex aspects of IP and require expert legal advice. In cooperation with specialized law firms, we can assist you in such complex matters, either by enforcing your IP rights or by defending you against the claims of IP owners.
Innovation Strategy
Even smaller and to a greater extent larger companies can benefit significantly from a well-thought-out innovation strategy, provided that it fits into the day-to-day business and is not just paperwork that ends up in a drawer. How you can achieve very important strategic advantages in practical implementation is the result of a consultation process with you - carefully considering your corporate culture.
Internal IP Processes
The ownership of intellectual property (IP) gives rise internal costs. Especially for smaller, but also for larger IP portfolios, it is often possible to set up and use reliable processes with relatively simple means in day-to-day business. We can support you, share our extensive experience in this area and work with you to develop a sustainable and robust solution for your needs.
Other Matters
Other areas in which we can assist you include internal training of staff in intellectual property (IP) law. In addition to administrative aspects, this includes raising awareness of IP issues, the possibilities of searching public databases of IP offices, and much more. Contact us and we can work with you to develop a specific program tailored to your interests.