Trademark Law – Protecting your Trademarks and Symbols in Germany, Europe and worldwide.

The value of trademarks cannot be overestimated. Trademarks enable companies to distinguish their products and services from those of their competitors, and we support our clients in making the most of their trademarks.

Trademarks often represent a very significant part of our clients’ assets and must therefore be protected by all means. Obtaining a trademark confers to the owner the exclusive right to commercially use the protected name or logo. Third parties will therefore be prohibited from using identical or similar symbols for their corresponding products or services. The same applies to trade names, i.e. company symbols (e.g. company names, firms or other designations regarding your enterprise), work titles, and indications of geographical source.

Due to the strict priority registration principle in trademark law, older trademarks will most likely prevail over younger trademarks should there be a justified danger of confusion. Therefore, register your trademarks before someone else registers similar trademarks!

How can we help you?

We support the owners of established trademarks in expanding and maintaining their trademark portfolio. Together with our clients we develop a suitable trademark strategy which specifically meets each client’s requirements to ensure maximum protection of their intellectual property. However, we also support our clients in their endeavor to register their first own trademark for their products or services.

Our services include trademark collision searches, i.e. the research for older trademarks, company symbols, and work titles which might prevent a new trademark from being registered. A collision can sometimes be avoided by a simple modification of the symbol or an amendment to the list of goods and services.

After a thorough collision research, we will file your trademark for registration with either the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) or the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), respectively (trademark application). Should any third party file an opposition against the registration of your trademark, we shall endeavor to enforce your trademark.

Any infringements of your trademark will be met by the most effective countermeasures. Our clients’ injunctive reliefs will be enforced through swift warning notices, preliminary injunctions and border seizures, including trade fair mandates where immanent action is of the essence. The same applies to any of your claims for information, destruction, and compensation arising from trademark infringements. This way, we ensure comprehensive and sustainable protection of our clients’ intellectual property and trademarks.

The costs of such protection will be significantly reduced through continuous trademark monitoring. We will consistently surveil the market and any new application of German, European (EU) or international (IR) trademarks. After consulting with you, we will file oppositions against any application of trademarks that bear the inherent danger of confusion with your own trademarks and initiate cancellation proceedings against any expired or invalid trademarks.

We are happy to assume the management of your entire trademark portfolio, i.e. we observe time limits and take on all correspondence with trademark offices and any other third parties. Our expertise in this particular area enables us to provide continuous relief to your own staff.

Warning notice received due to trademark infringement?

If you have received a warning notice due to the alleged infringement of a trademark or another symbol, such as trade names or titles of works, a swift reaction will be required. Send us your warning notice by fax or e-mail and we will review whether or not you committed an actual infringement of a competing trademark or symbol. We will defend you against any unjustified claims. Maybe we are already familiar with your opponent.

Should you have received a warning notice from us, you might want to consult with colleagues who specialize in this particular field so we can resolve the matter without any effort and in due time.

Contact us

Feel free to contact us by sending us an e-mail or calling us at any time. We are looking forward to helping you with any issues relating to trademark law.

Attorney at law Andreas Erlenhardt, LL.M.

Bar-certified specialist attorney for intellectual property

We do business all over Germany. Our Düsseldorf office is located within the district of the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Düsseldorf, to which the following communities belong: Hilden, Langenfeld, Meerbusch, Neuss, Krefeld, Kaarst, Ratingen, Mönchengladbach, Viersen, Kempen, Wuppertal, Erkrath, Haan, Remscheid, Mettmann, Solingen, Velbert, Oberhausen, Duisburg, Mülheim, Dinslaken and Kleve – we do not have offices in these cities but only in Düsseldorf. We have advised clients who are located in Berlin, Dortmund, Bremen, Köln, Dresden, Bochum, Bonn, Gelsenkirchen, Chemnitz, Kiel, Augsburg, Koblenz, Lübeck, Leverkusen, Oldenburg, Stuttgart, Osnabrück, Paderborn, Würzburg, Ulm, Offenbach, Bottrop, Hannover, Münster, Recklinghausen, Trier, Erlangen, Jena, Reutlingen, Nürnberg, Pforzheim, Göttingen, Heilbronn, Regensburg, Ingolstadt, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Potsdam, Leipzig, Hamm, Kassel, Saarbrücken, Mainz, Freiburg, Aachen, Braunschweig, Wiesbaden, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Bielefeld, Essen, Frankfurt and München.