The Legal 500 > Europe, Middle East & Africa > Germany > Trade marks

Düsseldorf IP boutique Arnold Ruess Rechtsanwälte PartmbB is experienced in advising on strategic portfolio matters as well as in representing clients in contentious proceedings. Despite the firm's purely national presence, the team led by Peter Ruess is well versed in the coordination of international mandates. The team's extensive experience in license negotiations and the development of advertising strategies and materials round off its range of services.

BEITEN BURKHARDT combines an experienced trade mark portfolio management practice with broad sector knowledge. The team led by Matthias Stecher provides in-depth expertise in the automotive, retail and sports sectors and has extensive experience in advising clients from the media, design and luxury goods industries with a specialism in the cosmetics and gaming sectors. The practice's forensic expertise is regularly demonstrated in proceedings, which, in addition to trade mark and competition law aspects, also contain copyright elements. In September 2018, the team increased its bench strength by adding salary partner and IT and data protection specialist Lauren Lee from Baker McKenzie, while IP expert Uta Norstedt made salary partner in January 2019. Joachim Wessel retired in December 2018.

Boehmert & Boehmert's strength lies in the strategic development and management of large trade mark portfolios, both within Germany and internationally. The team also receives demanding contentious instructions, which frequently go all the way to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). Its broad client base includes media, luxury goods and pharmaceutical sector clients as well as consumer goods and technology companies. Trade mark and design law expert Rudolf Böckenholt, Malte Nentwig, who predominantly handles strategic trade mark portfolio work, Volker Schmitz-Fohrmann, who deals with contentious and non-contentious trade mark matters, and Martin Wirtz, who frequently advises on the development and maintenance of trade mark and design portfolios, are among the main contacts. Trade mark, copyright and antitrust law specialist Jan Bernd Nordemann left the firm in January 2019 to co-found the spin-off Nordemann with its main office in Potsdam and a second office in Berlin.

Acting from Cologne, Munich and Hamburg, CBH Rechtsanwälte Cornelius, Bartenbach, Haesemann & Partner's client base predominantly consists of medium-sized companies from the healthcare, beauty and care products, automotive and luxury goods as well as retail sectors. The team is well versed in handling the management and development of portfolios as well as representing clients in contentious proceedings, while also having design law expertise. Key members of the team include Sebastian Eble, Ingo Jung, Markus Ruttig, Nadja Siebertz and Detlef von Schultz, who are experienced in providing clients with strategic advice and representing them in contentious proceedings, among other matters.

CMS stands out for its specialsm in consumer goods sector work and its expertise at the intersection with life sciences, agroscience and healthcare. As part of an international set-up, the team led by Thomas Manderla and Jörn Witt regularly handles cross-border matters, which frequently pertain to the strategic development of international trade mark and design portfolios, including associated registration proceedings, while also regularly crossing national borders when handling contentious proceedings. Its expertise also extends to representing clients in product piracy scenarios. Gordian Hasselblatt is an expert in trade mark protection for new product launches.

With the arrival of counsel Andreas Ebert-Weidenfeller in May 2019, previously at Meissner Bolte Patentanwälte Rechtsanwälte Partnerschaft mbB, Eisenführ Speiser gained an experienced trade mark and design strategist, complementing the core team around Julian Eberhardt and Harald Förster. As part of an integrated law and patent firm, the practice shares some of its clients with the firm's patent law team, many of which are owner-managed SMEs. Its offering includes representation in contentious proceedings and summary proceedings, for example at trade fairs.

Hamburg boutique FECHNER Rechtsanwälte regularly handles name finding procedures and is best known for its specialism in representing advertisers alongside advertising and communication agencies. Much of its work is non-contentious in nature and includes trade mark and design law matters but the team including Georg Fechner and Birte Lorenzen also handles contentious proceedings.

FPS' team led by Christoph Holzbach handles a wide range of contentious and non-contentious trade mark and design law work. Unlike most other firms in Germany, the practice has positioned itself strategically at the interface of IP and IT, enabling the team to assist its clients - many of which stem from the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, luxury goods and fashion industries alongside the media, advertising, manufacturing and software sectors - with large projects. The team also provides advice on the commercial exploitation of IP portfolios. Equity partner Thomas Stein and associate partner Sarah Petereit joined the team from Winterstein Rechtsanwälte in October 2018, strengthening the group's capacities at the interface between IP and IT. In February 2019, Eckart Haag and Daniel Hövel joined Notos.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's trade mark practice is characterised by the digitalisation initiative led by Matthias Koch and by Andrea Lensing-Kramer's experience in providing trade mark and competition law advice to consumer goods, technology, healthcare and financial sector clients. Koch as well as Lensing-Kramer are experienced litigators but are also specialised in the commercial exploitation of IP portfolios, advising on licensing and distribution agreements as well as on IP aspects arising from joint ventures and other transactions.

As well as its strength in providing pharmaceutical companies and luxury goods manufacturers with trade mark law advice, Friedrich Graf von Westphalen & Partner succeeded in expanding its Cologne and Frankfurt offices by consolidating its broad range of services on one hand and by establishing a solid practice in product labelling, design and copyright law on the other. The team handles strategic portfolio expansion and portfolio management work as well as contentious defence proceedings. The firm's corporate capabilities also translate into a steady flow of transactions. Norbert Hebeis, Morton Douglas, David Kipping and Stephan Dittl jointly head the team.

Gleiss Lutz is best known for its expertise in unconventional brand categories such as positional trade marks, 3D, colour and colour combination trade marks. Providing assistance with the adaptation of trade mark portfolios to a constantly changing technological environment, most notably in the online space and including social media and apps, constitutes another key area of expertise. Its workload includes forensic matters as well as the strategic management and development of trade mark portfolios. As part of a full-service firm, the team led by Berlin-based Stefan Weidert and Stuttgart-based Stefan Völker is well placed to assist clients with a wide range of matters beyond the IP space.

Grünecker excels in luxury goods and fashion sector work alongside cosmetics, pharmaceutical and medical device sector matters. With its offices in Munich, Berlin and Cologne alongside an office in Paris, the practice has deep roots in Europe, leading to an international client base which is not least due to the firm's close cooperation with other European, US, Japanese and South Korean law firms. The team is particularly active in large infringement proceedings, most notably acting for luxury goods companies in the context of non-traditional trade mark categories and with large trading companies on the opposite side. In design law, the team's hard IP expertise is based on its close cooperation with the firm's patent law practice. Providing assistance with portfolios is another key element. Team heads Martin Aufenanger, Anja Franke, Holger Gauss, Maximilian Kinkeldey and Nicolás Schmitz are the main contacts.

Harte-Bavendamm Rechtsanwälte succeeded in expanding its design and trade mark management offering, and in strengthening its forensic wing. The Hamburg IP boutique has broad industry expertise covering the food and fashion industries as well as the print and media sectors and clients from the furniture, design and pharmaceutical sectors. Main contacts are Michael Goldmann, who is particularly active in contentious proceedings, Henning Harte-Bavendamm, Andrea Jaeger-Lenz and Arne Lambrecht, who handles a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters. Design, trade mark and competition lawyer Malte Lieckfeld made partner in January 2019. In spring 2020, Frederik Thiering and Marion Jacob, both specialised in trade mark law, are due to move to Bird & Bird. Thiering will join as equity partner and Jacob as senior counsel.

Rated for its international and broad bench strength, Hoffmann Eitle's team includes a Munich-based trade mark lawyer, who is also admitted in Great Britain, and receives regular assistance from its teams in Milan and Madrid. Its workload includes strategic advice on trade mark portfolios as well as the enforcement of intellectual property rights before ordinary courts, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Wedig von der Osten-Sacken and Michaela Ring are among the main contacts of the team and, in addition to German trade mark mandates, also handle European and international trade mark law instructions.

JONAS Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH stands out for its approach tailored to entrepreneurial requirements. The team led by Karl Hamacher, Martin Viefhues and Nils Weber assists its clients with trade mark law matters pertaining to the development of products and legal requirements of trade mark use in sales and advertising. Handling sales law matters complements this offering.

With offices in Munich and Düsseldorf, KLAKA Rechtsanwälte has carved out a strong practice handling trade mark and design law matters and is particularly active in the automotive, fashion and luxury goods sectors as well as the pharmaceutical, energy and banking industries with clients including renowned German and international companies. In 2018 and 2019, the team continued to demonstrate its well-known strength in infringement and other contentious proceedings. Ralf Hackbarth heads the team, which includes litigation expert Carola Onken.

Hamburg-based commercial law firm KNPZ Rechtsanwälte provides trade mark and competition law advice alongside expertise in copyright, antitrust and data protection law as well as press and freedom of speech law. Christian Klawitter is a key contact.

Munich-based IP boutique Lorenz Seidler Gossel is best known for its successful forensic practice but it also advises on the full range of trade mark law matters, from the development of national and international market strategies and representation in corresponding application proceedings to the administration of established portfolios. The team also has extensive experience in product piracy work and is adept at handling licensing issues. Reinhard Ingerl and Siegfried Jackermeier are among the most prominent members of the team and predominantly act in the contentious space.

In trade mark law, Loschelder handles both contentious proceedings and trade mark administration, while also regularly advising on issues that require competition law expertise. While most of its work has a national character, handling cross-border matters are also part of Stefan Maaßen's, Thomas Schulte-Beckhausen's and name partner Michael Loschelder's workload. All three partners cover a wide range of IP law work.

Soft IP boutique Lubberger Lehment is rated as having one of the most successful litigation practices in the German market but the team also advises on transactional IP matters, which has been an area of growth since the opening of the Munich office in 2017. The team is well known for obtaining many landmark decisions before the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), whereby several recent rulings concerned matters at the intersection between trade mark law and digital economy, in particular online commerce. Acting for clients in the luxury cosmetics sector remains one of the team's key strengths, while also continuously expanding its expertise in other sectors. Main contacts are Cornelis Lehment and Benjamin Koch, who frequently handle contentious proceedings, as well as Martin Fiebig, who is equally active in the contentious space with a focus on fighting against internet-based product piracy, and Andreas Lubberger, who acts in contentious proceedings and advises on portfolio development and maintenance. Rani Mallick, who made partner in January 2019 and predominantly deals with counterfeiting and product imitation work is another key member of the team alongside media, luxury goods and start-up expert Kai Schmidt-Hern and Bernd Weichhaus, who frequently represents luxury goods manufacturers in contentious proceedings.

Meissner Bolte Patentanwälte Rechtsanwälte Partnerschaft mbB has one of the most active trade mark registration practices in the German market. In addition, Oliver Nilgen's team also handles a high volume of contentious work and is well versed in border seizure proceedings. Andreas Ebert-Weidenfeller joined Eisenführ Speiser as of counsel in May 2019.

Osborne Clarke is one of the younger players in the market and focuses on clients from the automotive, consumer goods, life sciences, media, fashion and technology sectors. The team led by Marcus Sacré has grown rapidly since 2015, and was particularly strengthened by the arrival of Matthias Kloth from White & Case LLP in May 2016. Litigation work makes up for a key portion of the team's workload and includes both national and cross-border instructions as well as the coordination of international disputes.

Preu Bohlig & Partner advises on the planning and development of trade mark portfolios, including representation in associated application procedures. This includes trade mark law advice when setting up companies and due diligence assistance in connection with transactions. The team also handles a wide spectrum of contentious matters, from summary proceedings to principal proceedings and border seizure measures, as well as design law matters. By further strengthening its bench of associates in Hamburg and intensifying its cooperation with the Paris office, the practice managed to expand its market share. Christian Donle, Torben Düsing, Astrid Gérard, Andreas Haberl, Jürgen Schneider and Ludwig von Zumbusch are the team's key members.

Schultz-Süchting combines its trade mark and competition law expertise with copyright and media law advisory work. Lars Kröner, who has a specialism in pharmaceutical law, is one of the main contacts.

With the arrival of salary partner Sebastian Fischoeder from Bird & Bird in September 2019, Taylor Wessing expanded its already sizable team and strengthened its expertise in colour, three-dimensional trade marks and trade mark protection for slogans. The practice has a particularly strong profile for international mandates, most notably in trade mark and design portfolio development, which it regularly handles in conjunction with colleagues across its network. In the contentious space, the team also receives regular instructions with cross-border elements. Olaf Gillert heads the team. Jan Schumacher left the firm in June 2019 to become a founding partner of Schmitt Teworte-Vey Simon & Schumacher.

Vossius & Partner is experienced in the management and development of portfolios as well as in contentious proceedings with clients including well-known national and international companies. In combination with its broad sector expertise, the team led by Mathias Kleespies is well equipped to guide clients through various scenarios and has extensive experience in design, competition and copyright law.

Zenk Rechtsanwälte specialises in the food and consumer goods sectors, leading to frequent instructions from manufacturers and retailers on trade mark and competition law matters. The team jointly led by Stefanie Hartwig, Carsten Oelrichs and Sonja Schulz also has in-depth knowledge of food law. It handles a range of purely advisory matters, such as product launches, but also represents clients in disputes concerning summary proceedings alongside major proceedings before the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).