Legal fields

We advise and represent our clients in all legal questions covering the broad range of trademark law. Some such areas include:

1. Name of a person or company enjoying special protection under the provisions of the German Civil Code [BGB]
2. Business identifiers such as company symbols and work titles
3. Indications of geographical origin that enable products to be assigned directly to a specific region
4. Brands designating products and services particularly worthy of protection
5. Domains, which are continuing to gain significance as a source of information

Innovations play a decisive role in the success of your company on the global stage. By protecting your inventions with technical intellectual property rights such as patents and utility patents, you will be able to secure your competitive advantage over the long term.

Our patent attorneys are experts in various fields, from mechanical engineering and physics, electrical engineering and chemistry/pharmaceuticals, to medical technology, and are happy to provide support in all issues pertaining to your technical intellectual property rights:

• Comprehensive advice on technical intellectual property rights
• Assessment of the protectability of your invention
• Innovation research
• National and international registration of your technical intellectual property rights
• Litigation in the event of infringements on your technical intellectual property rights either at home or abroad
• Enforcing and defending your protected patents or utility patents

With our technical knowledge and our legal expertise, we can create and manage an international patent portfolio that is tailored to meet your needs. We are also happy to be of assistance when it comes to the commercial utilization of technical intellectual property rights, such as through licensing agreements.

Often, the design of a product is a major factor in the purchase decision. This does not just apply to classic product design but also to the design of technical devices and components. This is a major impetus for third parties to try and copy the design. As a result, our clients opt to protect the appearance of their product as a registered design.

Our services in the field of design protection:

• Consultation on design protection
• Assessment of the protectability of a design
• Research for previously known designs
• Registration of the design both at home and abroad
• Litigation in the event of infringements on your design rights either at home or abroad
• Registration of registered Community designs in the European Union
• Defense of the protected design
• Border seizure proceedings

Design protection can be requested quickly and cost-effectively and implemented rapidly.

Our experience and understanding allows us to make the most of the entire range of instruments available to us under media and copyright law.

• Media law
  Negative press reports, faulty product tests and harmful comments on the Internet, in print media and on TV/radio can cause serious damage to your image. We provide consultancy on all topics concerning public relations in the media and can help secure your good reputation.
• Copyright law
  As the author of works of music, literature, art, photography, or film, you are protected by a wide range of IP rights. We can support you in safeguarding and enforcing your rights, and we also create the basis for their lasting commercial utilization by drafting contracts.

The rigorous enforcement of legal rights can sometimes trigger undesirable knock-on effects. Where required, we work together with select PR advisors in order to flank the necessary legal measures with precisely targeted PR work.

We support you in the entire field of product safety and product liability, from the drafting and development stage to the sale of your products. With our expert knowledge and by drawing on the aid of experts and inspecting authorities, we protect your product safety and limit your liability risks.

The extensive field of product safety and product liability includes the following in particular:

• State-of-the-art product design
• Compliance with all relevant guidelines in the planning, development, and manufacturing stages
• Supplying products with the necessary documentation (assembly instructions, repair instructions, instructions for use, etc.)
• Post-market surveillance obligations

Should claims arise, we would also be happy to advise you with regard to any necessary recalls and safety campaigns while working together with your insurers.

Competition law disputes often occur where competition for end customers is particularly tough.

We help you right from the preparation of marketing concepts to help prevent aggression by competitors. We vigorously pursue competitors who pose a threat to your interests as a result of unfair commercial practices. To do this, we draw on the full range of instruments available to us

• from injunctions and
• lodging precautionary defense statements to
• opposition proceedings and legal action

Our client base also includes consumers against whom a third party has filed a claim of an alleged violation on platforms such as Amazon or eBay.

Competition law protects against both false advertising and aggressive business methods, as well as against product imitations – regardless of brands, patents, or registered designs.

The partnership between our lawyers and patent attorneys enables us to manage competition law disputes effectively and quickly, taking into account all of the IP rights available.

Thanks to our legal expertise and technical knowledge, we can provide you with in-depth advice on all legal issues relating to information technologies. The following fields are of particular relevance:

• IT contract law
  When it comes to software and hardware contracts, highly detailed contractual arrangements are required in order to provide all-round protection for your technological innovations.
• Lawful design of websites
  The unauthorized integration of images, videos, or music into websites frequently leads to violations of copyright which, along with an incomplete legal notice as required under German law, often leads to written warnings or litigation.
• Compliance with data protection regulations

Social media plug-ins for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other social networks must be taken into account in the privacy statement on the homepage.

• Domain name disputes/UDRP proceedings

Using internet domain names can lead to a violation of third-party trademark rights, which increasingly leads to litigation before the regular courts or to UDRP proceedings.

The economic success of a company primarily depends on the sale of its products. We support our clients both at home and abroad in the selection of the most appropriate distribution channel.

We advise our clients in particular on the following distribution methods:

• Sales representatives
• Authorized dealers
• Franchising
• Sales via specialist dealers
• Selective distribution systems
• Distance contracts

When it comes to the legal arrangements of the distribution system, we also maintain focus on the ‘related’ legal disciplines, too, including for example unfair competition law, industrial property rights, the UN Sales Convention, and anti-trust law.

We are also happy to advise you in terms of obstructions to your business, such as faulty product tests.

With our extensive knowledge base and decades of practical experience, we are able to answer all our clients’ questions regarding mining law.

We offer consultation to mining companies in the following fields:

• Approval of mining projects (management plan approval)
• Proper liquidation of mining facilities (decommissioning, renaturalization
• Questions pertaining to mining activity damage legislation (mining activity damage, ground motion damage, decreases in property value, decreases in rental value)

We also support private individuals and investors in the following areas:

• Expropriations under mining law (land assignments)
• Encroachments on land near mine dumps
• Clarifying responsibility for past mining activities
• Issues with regard to the statute of limitations
• Mining activity damage as a result of salt and brine extraction

Providing fast and comprehensive advice in all issues pertaining to the underground extraction and storage of natural resources such as black coal and lignite, rock salt and potash, as well as brine is of major importance to us.

In our increasingly interconnected world, a large number of contracts, business practices and agreements have implications under antitrust law. We are happy to perform a detailed analysis of your situation under antitrust law and answer your questions with regard to merger control and possible restrictions of competition. Our compliance consultation services focus on preventive measures to minimize damage and avoid severe penalties such as disgorgement, fines, and damages.

We would be happy to answer any questions you might have about German and European antitrust law. This includes:

• Antitrust merger control
• Infringements of the ban on restrictive business practices (cartel ban)
• Abuse of a dominant market position
• Infringement of the principle of non-discrimination

In addition, we execute cartel prosecution on your behalf to assert claims for compensation as a result of antitrust violations and represent your interests both before the regular courts and before antitrust authorities.

In these times of limited resources, energy law continues to grow in significance. Complex procedures and detailed contracts also continue to raise issues in terms of energy law.

Some of the services we provide:

• Consultation on energy law
  We provide support when it comes to the approval process, CO² certification, grid charges, and the German Renewable Energies Act levy.
• Energy contract law
  We are also happy to advise you when it comes to drafting energy supply agreements and price adjustment clauses, representing your interests before the regular courts and before antitrust and regulation authorities.
• Energy contracting
  Draw on our decades of experience in the field of energy contracting.
• Tenure and rights of use
  Our particular focus is on safeguarding your rights with regard to ownership of the facility and supply infrastructure, as well as guaranteeing the necessary right of way and right of access.
• Legal disputes
  In the event of a legal dispute with an energy provider as a result of supply disruption, price increase, or an invoice verification, we are happy to represent your interests.

With its many authorities, institutions and municipalities, public administration is dependent on external support in order to provide its services. When it comes to the essential procurement of goods and services, the relevant procedural and legal regulations of procurement law must be observed.

We are happy to help you participate in public tenders and will help you to avoid formal errors.

We offer the following services:

• Consultation on all issues pertaining to procurement law
• Support in the submission of tenders
• Analysis of your bid documentation
• Assessment of potential infringements of procurement law
• Representation in review procedures before the contract awarding office and the regular courts

So that equal opportunities are maintained for all companies involved in public tenders, there are strict regulations and formalized procedures enshrined in procurement law. We would be happy to advise you on any matter regarding this field.