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IP & Copyright Law

Our range of advisory services

Intellectual property is the basis for success in many companies. Therefore, immense importance should be given to the protection of this property, not only so as not to jeopardise future entrepreneurial success, but also to protect against product and trademark piracy and counterfeiting. Our intellectual property and copyright team has extensive experience in protecting existing assets, in creating and establishing new trademarks or rebranding. Thinking strategically and professionally, our advisors put themselves in your company's position.

Our team provides advice at the highest level on industrial property rights, such as trademarks, utility models, patents and species protection rights, as well as on competition, advertising, copyright, press and media law. Our experts always support you in a goal-oriented manner, both in concrete cases of infringement and in the development and implementation of basic IP concepts to secure and optimise your IP portfolio.

We can advise you on drafting contracts, represent your interests in contract negotiations and enforce your rights out of court, in arbitration proceedings and before German, European and Asian courts. If third countries are affected and we do not have our own office in that country, we work closely with our local partner law firms: because in the global age, worldwide brand protection should be considered at all costs.

We advise individual companies as well as international groups. In addition, as a full-service law firm, we can always call in our colleagues from other practice areas, such as tax and transfer pricing experts.

Our broad range of advisory services is rounded off by the outstanding expertise of our team in the reviewing, designing and negotiating of research and development projects, including know-how protection agreements and non-disclosure agreements.

Our lawyers are very familiar with their conception: with the entry into force of the German "Trade Secret Protection Act" (GeschGehG), which is based on the EU Know-how Directive, the requirements for the protection of business and company secrets in companies have changed fundamentally. Regardless of whether secret recipes, purchase prices or customer lists are concerned, the implementation and documentation of "appropriate confidentiality measures" is now always necessary if companies want to invoke the civil and criminal protection of information that secures their competitive advantage.

We can advise you on all aspects of the new legal situation, from the adaptation of your employee and supplier documents (keyword: "NDA") to providing training at all levels within your company up to and including the creation of comprehensive concepts for the protection of secrets. In doing so, we are always aware of the costs, because wherever there are synergies with established processes in your company (e.g. data protection, IP protection or Information Security Management System (ISMS)), we will include them in a cost-saving way.

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  • Advising on all matters pertaining to copyright law, in particular, user agreements and licensing systems
  • Drafting and negotiating licence agreements
  • Advising on competition and advertising law

  • Assisting with application and registration procedures concerning intellectual property rights, such as trademarks, designs, utility models and patents, both domestically and abroad

  • Carrying out a legal analysis of IP portfolios and providing strategic advice
  • Developing and implementing protection strategies
  • Advising on the purchase and sale of industrial property rights
  • Defending industrial property rights
  • Enforcing IP rights in court
  • Authorised representatives before the Unified Patent Court (UPC)
  • Advising on the use of IP rights (e.g. as security for loans), including assisting with the respective contract negotiations

  • Drafting and negotiations

  • Advising on the German Trade Secret Protection Act (GeschGehG)
  • Adapting employee and supplier documents
  • Training management and employees
  • Creating comprehensive concepts for the protection of secrets
  • Further information and templates can be found on our page specifically set up to provide information in this regard and on info page and on our blog
Newsroom IP & Copyright Law
Team IP & Copyright Law
Julian Adams

Julian Adams

Associate

Hamburg

Julian Albrecht

Julian Albrecht

Associate

Cologne

Silvia C. Bauer

Silvia C. Bauer

Partner

Cologne

Dr Daniel Bischof

Dr Daniel Bischof

Counsel

Hamburg

Dr Maximilian Dorndorf

Dr Maximilian Dorndorf

Partner

Essen

Adrian Freidank

Adrian Freidank

Counsel

Cologne

István Fancsik, LL.M. (London)

István Fancsik, LL.M. (London)

Senior Associate

Essen

Jonny H. Giessel

Jonny H. Giessel

Senior Associate

Frankfurt a.M.

Dr Stefanie Hellmich, LL.M.

Dr Stefanie Hellmich, LL.M.

Partner

Frankfurt a.M.

Dr Lea Hachmeister

Dr Lea Hachmeister

Senior Associate

Frankfurt a.M.

Julia Hartung, Maîtrise en Droit

Julia Hartung, Maîtrise en Droit

Senior Associate

Singapore

Felix Hielscher

Felix Hielscher

Senior Associate

Stuttgart

Laura Hoffmann, LL.M. (Dresden/London)

Laura Hoffmann, LL.M. (Dresden/London)

Senior Associate

Frankfurt a.M.

Johannes Klausch, LL.M. (London)

Johannes Klausch, LL.M. (London)

Partner

Berlin

Elisabeth Kohoutek

Elisabeth Kohoutek

Partner

Frankfurt a.M.

Christian Kuß, LL.M.

Christian Kuß, LL.M.

Partner

Cologne

Stefanie Kandzia, LL.M.

Stefanie Kandzia, LL.M.

Senior Associate

Hamburg

Lutz Keller

Lutz Keller

Senior Associate

Cologne

Niccolo Langenheim, LL.M.

Niccolo Langenheim, LL.M.

Senior Associate

Cologne

Iris López Martínez, LL.M.

Iris López Martínez, LL.M.

Senior Associate

Berlin

Anton Lehnen

Anton Lehnen

Associate

Yangon

Dr Detlef Mäder

Dr Detlef Mäder

Partner

Cologne, Dusseldorf

Franziska Maier, LL.M. (UCLA)

Franziska Maier, LL.M. (UCLA)

Associate

Stuttgart

Anna-Laura Martens

Anna-Laura Martens

Associate

Berlin

Alina Moers

Alina Moers

Associate

Cologne

Dr Kay Oelschlägel

Dr Kay Oelschlägel

Partner

Hamburg

Michelle Petruzzelli

Michelle Petruzzelli

Senior Associate

Cologne

Dr Katharina Preuss

Dr Katharina Preuss

Senior Associate

Cologne

Christina Menhaj (née Rygula), LL.M. (Dublin)

Christina Menhaj (née Rygula), LL.M. (Dublin)

Senior Associate

Hamburg

Dr Manuel Rueß

Dr Manuel Rueß

Associate

Hamburg

Dr Markus Sengpiel

Dr Markus Sengpiel

Managing Partner

Cologne

Dr Wulff-Axel Schmidt

Dr Wulff-Axel Schmidt

Partner

Frankfurt a.M.

Dr Geert Johann Seelig

Dr Geert Johann Seelig

Partner

Hamburg

Carsten Andreas Senze

Carsten Andreas Senze

Partner

Stuttgart

Leif Dustin Schneider

Leif Dustin Schneider

Counsel

Ho Chi Minh City

Dr Aline Mück

Dr Aline Mück

Senior Associate

Cologne

Tobias Schneider

Tobias Schneider

Senior Associate

Cologne

Anja Schwarz, LL.M. (London)

Anja Schwarz, LL.M. (London)

Senior Associate

Cologne

Dr Thomas Schwieters

Dr Thomas Schwieters

Associate

Hanover

Deike Tamm

Deike Tamm

Associate

Frankfurt a.M.

Pierre Daniel Wittmann

Pierre Daniel Wittmann

Senior Associate

Frankfurt a.M.

Jan Zimmer

Jan Zimmer

Senior Associate

Singapore

Awards
Legal500 Top Tier 2026
Chambers Europe 2025
Legal500 Top Kanzlei 2025
The Lawyer European Awards 2024 - Law Firm of the Year: Germany
Juve Awards 2024 - "Law Firm of the Year Regulatory Law"
Chambers Europe 2024
Legal500 Top Kanzlei 2024
Legal500 Green Guide EMEA 2024
Juve Awards 2023 - "Law Firm of the Year Public Procurement"
Juve Awards 2023 - "Law Firm of the Year Distribution, Trade & Logistics"
Chambers Europe 2023
Legal500 Top Tier 2023
Juve Award 2022 - "Kanzlei des Jahres Südwesten"
azur Award 2022
Chambers Europe 2022
Legal500 Top Tier 2022
European Law Firm of the Year
Chambers EUR 2021
Legal 500 Top Tier 2021
PMN Management Awards 2020
PMN Management Awards 2020
Chambers EUR 2020
Legal Tech Kanzlei
Legal 500
Juve Award 2019 - "Law Firm of the Year 2019"
PMN Management Awards 2019