The Legal 500

Bird & Bird’s ‘overall level of service is excellent’. It advises clients such as N24 and Peek & Cloppenburg on trade mark management and, on the litigation side, is representing Apple Inc in iPad design infringement proceedings against Jay-Tech. The firm advised German banking group DSGV regarding its red colour trade mark, and provides comprehensive trade mark advice to LLOYD Shoes. Practice head Christian Harmsen is recommended along with the ‘very responsive and knowledgeable’ Markus Körner.

Harmsen Utescher’s team features several ‘excellent and renowned partners’ that are ‘absolutely top notch’, and its expertise spans various industry sectors such as food, retail and media. Highlights included representing LG and Formula One in trade mark litigation. Other clients include Metro, Lidl, Jack Wolfskin, Sky Deutschland, and Procter & Gamble. Rainer Kaase and Michael Schaeffer are recommended.

Hogan Lovells International LLP’s ‘brilliant’ team provides seamless co-ordination of international matters with colleagues in other offices. The team recently represented All Star DACH against retailer Metro in a case relating to the resale of illegal parallel imports; Dell in trade mark infringement proceedings; and Quiksilver in a trade mark dispute with Puma regarding shoes. The very experienced Andreas Bothe is particularly recommended.

Lorenz Seidler Gossel is ‘a premier law firm for brand issues’ and is ‘excellent for assertive legal enforcement’. This ‘extremely strong’ boutique has an extensive portfolio of longstanding clients. The team acts for Inlingua on trade mark proceedings, assists ProSiebenSat.1 with portfolio management, and comprehensively advises Street One. Christian Rassmann, Reinhard Ingerl and Siegfried Jackermeier are recommended.

Baker & McKenzie remains a great choice for portfolio work, and is increasingly handling litigation, such as representing Roca Sanitario in injunction proceedings; and Calvin Klein in a trade mark infringement lawsuit. K-Swiss instructed the team regarding a trade mark infringement of the five-stripe mark. Michael Fammler is recommended along with Rembert Niebel, who has ‘excellent technical knowledge’.

The success of CMS’ large team has been reflected by three internal partner promotions. The practice is acting for Apple Inc on trade mark clearances, has been taking over responsibility for Fissler’s global design portfolio, and conducted two sets of nullity proceedings for Henkel. Matthias Eck and Gordian Hasselblatt are recommended.

Gleiss Lutz provides comprehensive trade mark advice and is excellent for cross-border work, with the firm notably picking up a number of instructions from Turkey and Brazil. It advised Margarete Steiff on registering the position trade mark ‘button in ear’. The team also represented Blizzard Entertainment in an unfair competition and trade mark infringement action, and acted for Alfred Ritter, owner of the Ritter Sport brand, in trade mark and unfair competition litigation. Stefan Völker and Andreas Schabenberger ‘do an excellent job’ and are extremely responsive.

Grünecker’s key areas of expertise are 
trade mark and design clearance, litigation and unfair competition matters. Mövenpick and Coca-Cola are longstanding clients of the team, which also advised Hermès International regarding the seizure of counterfeit goods. The team has picked up new clients from the fashion, travel and entertainment industries. The ‘very commercial’ Maximilian Kinkeldey has ‘very up-to-date knowledge’, and clients appreciate the practice’s ‘hands-on-approach’ and ‘extremely good value for money’.

Jonas Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH’s ‘outstanding’ team has retained its strong market position despite the death of name partner Kay Uwe Jonas in early 2012. The practice advises leading companies such as DuPont on the administration of trade marks and in customs seizures. Other clients include Merck and publisher Axel Springer, as well as Deutsche Post, which the team advises on trade mark and design matters. ‘Outstanding communicator’ Nils Weber has ‘superb knowledge’.

‘Superb’ boutique firm Klaka Rechtsanwälte provides ‘extremely good quality’ work to many longstanding clients such as BMW. The team represents Nestlé in litigation and also advises Deichmann and UniCredit Bank. Andreas Schulz and Ralf Hackbarth are recommended.

Taylor Wessing has been successfully expanding its international client portfolio, particularly among US companies. The practice acts for Hewlett-Packard in all its trade mark matters in the EU and recently took over the administration of Elegance’s global trade mark portfolio. Olaf Gillert and Andreas Meissner are recommended.

White & Case LLP excels at contentious work, and its clients include Henkel, Unilever and Volkswagen. The team also advises Hapag-Lloyd on trade mark, copyright and unfair competition matters. Christian Rohnke is ‘able to simplify technically complicated matters’, and ‘focuses on the important issues instead of losing the court’s attention over details’.

Bardehle Pagenberg had a great year in 2012, including representing Apple Inc in design law proceedings regarding the iPad. The team is also acting for Castel-Frères in trade mark litigation and advising Campari on trade mark administration. Jochen Pagenberg and Claus Eckhartt are recommended.

Commerzbank and Mastercard are regular clients of boutique firm Boehmert & Boehmert, which has recently added various Asian clients to its portfolio, including Chinese technology company Huawei, and also acts for a number of US clients. Michaela Huth-Dierig and Jan Bernd Nordemann are recommended.

Harte-Bavendamm Rechtsanwälte represents Levi Strauss comprehensively in litigation; Procter & Gamble in numerous 
unfair competition, trade mark and design 
cases; and Société des Produits Nestlé in protecting the Nestlé Group’s brands. ‘Astute litigator’ Henning Harte-Bavendamm ‘thinks beyond the case and sees the possibilities for 
brand building’.

Lichtenstein, Körner & Partner is a great choice for trade mark portfolio management and has strong ties to US clients. The team provides comprehensive advice to Porsche, and acts for Amazon and Avon on registration matters. Kerstin Gründig-Schnelle is ‘superb’.

WilmerHale focuses on the cosmetics, food, media and financial services industries, and is well known for representing Lindt & Spruengli. The team manages the global portfolios of Deutsche Bank and of LSG Lufthansa Service Holding, and also provides contentious advice to various clients. Gesine Hild and practice head Reinhart Lange are recommended.

Bock Legal is popular with companies from the fashion and luxury products sectors, but is increasingly branching out and is now advising clients such as Vodafone D2. Other clients include Gucci, The Swatch Group and Tod’s. Andreas Bock heads the practice.

CBH Cornelius Bartenbach Haesemann & Partners advises on trade mark law and has a fantastic reputation for unfair competition matters. Haribo is a longstanding client of the team, which also acts for companies such as Sunpoint, Obi and Saint-Gobain Glass. Ingo Jung and Nadja Siebertz are recommended.

FPS Rechtsanwälte & Notare’s excellent litigation team acts for luxury goods companies such as Chanel and Richemont as well as technology sector clients including Adobe and Microsoft. Christoph Holzbach is recommended.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer frequently acts for multinational companies, and is representing Colgate-Palmolive in multi-jurisdictional preliminary injunction proceedings. It is also advising ThyssenKrupp 
on the split of trade marks when carving out 
the Blohm + Voss shipyard business. Matthias Koch is recommended along with the ‘superb’ Andrea Lensing-Kramer.

Heisse Kursawe Eversheds advises Tyco International on trade mark management matters, provides comprehensive contentious and non-contentious advice to Tele Munich Group, and also acts for a US-based multinational food company. Axel Zimmermann is the key contact.

Hoffmann Eitle regularly advises Hardenberg and Monster Cable on trade mark registration, and provides broad advice to Alois Dallmayr, which it also represented in litigation against Tchibo. The firm has a number of US and Asian clients. Wedig von der Osten-Sacken is well regarded.

Noerr is able to leverage its office in Alicante, which is the seat of the administrative body for the EU community trade mark. Clients include BMG Rights Management, Topshop International and Grand Slam Tennis Properties. Georg Jahn is recommended.

SKW Schwarz Rechtsanwälte’s growing team recently represented food retailer Basic in litigation and regularly acts for Skechers and Novartis. The firm has been appointed to manage Vans’ European trade mark portfolio. Dorothee Altenburg is ‘even more excellent and faster every time’, and Magnus Hirsch ‘solves issues with an international angle’.