Trademark law assures the worldwide protection of a certain symbol for the labeling of goods or services. This protected sign (trademark) is used to market the respective goods and services. It enables the customer to differentiate the product from the goods and services offered by competitors, allowing him to use or purchase these goods and services on a continuous basis.

A trademark can be protected by different means: as national trademark within the respective country, as European trademark in member countries of the European Union, and as an internationally protected trademark (IR trademark) under the Madrid system. In the latter case, the owner of a German trademark may extend the protection to include other countries.

Patent law facilitates the protection of technical inventions, which includes products and procedures. Once a patent has been granted, it enjoys comprehensive protection. Only the patent holder is authorized to use, dispose of, and decide on the utilization of the patented invention. Therefore, without the patent holder’s consent, third parties are prohibited from manufacturing, offering, bringing into circulation, utilizing, importing for the intended purposes, or owning the patented product or process. All conceivable utilization options are exclusively held by the patent holder.

As a result of the globalization of markets, competition between companies worldwide has increased. Consequently, the protection of existing and yet to be developed proprietary and marketing signs, company specific know-how, and technical inventions becomes increasingly important, with the defense against possible attacks from third parties being another critical factor.

In close cooperation with our German specialist in this field, we will advise and assist you in all stages of trademark- and patent proceedings. We will also represent you in appellate proceedings. We are happy to support you in the initial stages by conducting trademark searches to establish the existence of identical or similar trade names. That way, you will be able to assess the prospects of success at an early stage, saving time and money in the long run. We also offer a trademark monitoring service to identify applications for identical or similar trademarks. If you are contemplating filing an objection, we will assess your chances of success and will take all steps required to prevent a weakening of your trademark.