Patents, trade marks and designs

A key focus of our work is the filing, obtaining and defending of patents, utility models, designs and trade marks.

 

Our services

  • Analysis of new ideas to identify innovations worthy of protection.
  • Advice on the optimal application and intellectual property strategy from both legal and commercial perspectives.
  • Conducting searches.
  • Preparing application documents for national or international applications.
  • Representation before the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), the European Patent Office (EPO), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
  • Global protection of innovations in cooperation with selected partner firms (including in the USA, China and Japan).
  • Conducting active and passive opposition, appeal, cancellation and patent invalidity proceedings.
  • Representation in appeal and invalidity proceedings before the Federal Patent Court (BPatG) and the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
  • Management of your intellectual property rights as an external patent department (IP management).
  • Analysis, optimisation and evaluation of your intellectual property portfolio; development of an IP strategy for your company.

Other services

Disputes and prevention of disputes

Monitoring the status of intellectual property rights.

Enforcing our own intellectual property rights and defending against unjustified claims.

In court if necessary.

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Licenses and contracts

Drafting and reviewing contracts.

Negotiating and mediating.

Intellectual property transactions.

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Employee inventions

Advice on all aspects of employee invention law.

Determining appropriate remuneration.

Resolving disputes.

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FAQ

Technical inventions that are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application may be patented. Examples include machines, electronic devices, chemical processes, software with a technical effect, or new manufacturing processes.

By contrast, pure ideas, scientific theories, mathematical methods or aesthetic designs are not patentable. Business methods without a technical basis are also generally not patentable.

The key factor is that the invention represents a technical solution to a technical problem. Whether a specific idea is actually patentable can usually only be assessed after a search of the prior art.

Our patent attorneys will be happy to advise you on this matter.

These intellectual property rights can be obtained through grant or registration and protect different aspects of an innovation.

  • Patent: Protects technical inventions (e.g. machines, processes). Valid for up to 20 years.
  • Utility model: Also for technical inventions, but without examination and with a maximum term of 10 years.
  • Trademark: Protects names, logos or symbols that identify products or services.
  • Design (registered design): Protects the external appearance of a product, e.g. its shape or appearance.

Which intellectual property right is appropriate depends on the nature of the innovation and the business strategy.

Our patent attorneys will be happy to advise you on this matter.

A European patent is applied for at the European Patent Office (EPO), where it is examined under a centralised procedure.

Once granted, the patent can be validated in the desired countries, with a choice of the 39 contracting states of the European Patent Convention (EPC). Since 2023, it has also been possible to obtain a unitary patent, which is valid in many EU countries simultaneously.

The advantage of a European patent is that a single application can cover several countries, rather than having to apply for separate national patents.

Our patent attorneys will be happy to advise you on this matter.

All FAQ at a glance