Protection of products and knowledge

In technology-driven companies, employees often develop protectable inventions in the course of their professional activities. We provide the following services for employers and employees in the area of employee invention law:

• Advice on rights and protection of employee inventions
• Assessment of employee inventions as to their protectability
• Advice and support for employee inventors 
• Drafting of compensation agreements for employee inventors
• Drafting of employment contracts with provisions on employee inventions
• Preparation and implementation of a reporting system for employee inventions
• Representation at the German Patent and Trademark Office, the European Patent Office  and the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
• Representation at the German Federal Patent Court
• Representation at the Arbitration Board for Employee Inventions at the German Patent and Trademark Office 

Contact person

• Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Völger
• Dr.-Ing. Antje Grebel 

Designs protect the appearance of products or parts thereof. Once the design has been registered, third parties are not permitted to imitate the design without the consent of the design maker. The maximum term of protection for the design is 25 years. We offer our clients the following services in the field of design law:

• Advisory and examination as to whether a product is protectable as a design
• Advisory on the licensing of designs
• Defense or assertion of claims in the event of infringement of designs on German, Europa, UK, USA, India
• Research of designs
• Registration of designs at the German Patent and Trademark Office DPMA, at the European Union Intellectual Property Office EUIPO and at the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO.
• Representation in proceedings at the German Federal Patent Court.

Contact person

• Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Völger
• Dr.-Ing. Antje Grebel

The protection of trademarks has always been an important topic in business. A trademark protects as a word mark, word-picture mark or figurative mark a conceptual designation for products and services on the market. It serves to distinguish one's own goods and services from the goods and services of a competitor. The protection period of a trademark is initially ten years and can be extended by another ten years. We offer our clients the following services in the field of trademark law:

• Advisory and examination as to whether a trademark is protectable
• Advisory on the licensing of trademarks
• Defense or assertion of legal claims in the event of infringement of registered trademarks at the Germany, Europe, UK, USA and India
• Representation in trademark applications at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
• Representation in proceedings at the German Federal Patent Court
• Trademark research

Contact person

• Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Völger
• Dr.-Ing. Antje Grebel 

Patents have an enormous importance in the economy, because they protect technical inventions and thus the core of any innovation. Once a patent has been granted, third parties are not allowed to use an invention without the consent of the patent holder. The maximum term of protection of a patent is twenty years. As patent attorneys, we offer the following services to our clients:

• Advisory and examination as to whether an invention is protectable as a patent
• Advisory on the licensing of patents
• Defense or assertion of legal claims in case of infringement of patents on Germany, European Union, UK, USA, India
• Patent research
• Preparation of patent applications
• Representation in filing and conducting examination and grant proceedings of patents at the German Patent and Trademark Office DPMA, the European Patent Office EPO and the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO
• Representation in proceedings at the German Federal Patent Court

Contact person

• Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Völger
• Dr.-Ing. Antje Grebel

Copyrights protects immaterial works such as images, photographs, music, software and texts. For persons in the creative and art industry, the protection of their works by copyrights is of essential importance. With many years of legal expertise, we advise and represent companies and private individuals, artists and freelance authors, poets, painters and musicians on the following copyrights issues:

• Advisory and contract drafting for usage and license agreements
• Advisory, contract drafting and representation of interests in the area of editing, distribution, reproduction and broadcasting rights, such as copyright infringements, plagiarism, product counterfeiting
• Advisory and representation of interests in the area of lecture, presentation, performance and exhibition rights
• Advisory and representing the interests of those affected by warnings, claims for damages, participation, enrichment, removal and injunctive relief by an author
• Enforcement of claims for damages, removal and injunctive relief in case of already existing copyright infringements
• Protection of computer programs, databases, music, books, films, product photos and paintings when published on the Internet and before takeovers and distribution in streaming -and social media networks
• Preventing distortions of works or other impairments
• Warning letters and appropriate payment in the event of threatened copyright infringement

Litigation

In copyright law, we represent our clients in proceedings at all German District- and High Courts and Regional Appeal Courts.

Contact person

• Ernst Henning Knigge