Services.
Counseling
Our firm assists you with all patent-related matters – regardless of whether you pursue an active patent policy or whether you are successful without patents and are confronted with patents.
Understanding the technology, the business environment and your interests is important to us. Starting out with our work we try to get a comprehensive picture of the technology and how it is relevant to your company. We explain the implications of patent law and ask questions if our picture is not complete.
Representation
We represent you before the German Patent and Trademark Office, the European Patent Office and the EUIPO, the Federal Patent Court, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and – together with a lawyer – the German civil courts. In proceedings before the civil courts, we cooperate with a network of lawyers specializing in patent infringement who are closely familiar with the courts and their practice. In cases related to foreign jurisdictions, we work with local attorneys with whom we have long-standing business relations.
Strategy
We integrate patents and other industrial property rights into your corporate strategy. Doing so, we match the possibilities of intellectual property to the interests of your company.
We counsel on and plan strategic patent portfolios and implement these together with you. We analyze the intellectual property landscape in your field of business and develop strategies for avoiding third-party patents and defending yourself in case of an attack.
Patent applications
Drafting a patent application, we are in close contact with you. We take expected technical and economic developments and possible infringement scenarios into account in the application so as to get comprehensive protection for your invention in all of its aspects.
Litigation
In cases of patent infringement, we assist you in establishing the facts of the case and collecting evidence. We evaluate the merits of the infringement claim and advise on enforcement and defense strategies and on possible risks. In case of an attack based on a patent, we assess the validity of the asserted patent and pursue the revocation or declaration of invalidity of the patent before the offices and courts. We represent you in court and, if desired, assist you in negotiating a settlement out of court.
Prosecution
During prosecution, we analyze and explain the examiners’ arguments in a way that enables you to make an informed decision. We know the practice of the patent offices and seek a pragmatic solution when negotiating with the examiners. We do, however, not shy a controversy with the patent offices and, if necessary, will go into appeal if the economic advantage in case of success justifies the expense.
Especially in case of computer-implemented inventions, we go into technical detail when discussing the case with the examiners and draw on our more than thirty years of experience with the case law and practice of the patent offices and the courts for our legal arguments.
Strategy
Developing a patent strategy, we discuss how your technology is relevant to your business and what its competitive potential is. We also discuss the way how competitors position themselves on the market and their patent policy. We advise on which patents can strengthen and safeguard your competitive position and develop a concept for a patent portfolio, which we will implement together with you. We also advise on how you can avoid attacks by your competitors through strategic action and how you can resolve conflicts with third parties on a business level.