There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.
— Roger Staubach
Counsel
Sound advice is at the heart of any contractual relationship. You know where your shoe pinches. Together, we’ll outline a scheme that suits your needs and act concertedly to implement it. An initial consultation comes at no cost to you. Should you decide to expose an invention at this point, you can be sure to receive an assessment of its patenting potential in return.
Good to know: The so-called attorney-client privilege is a legal concept rooted deeply in German constitution. Hence, your confidence is safe with us—even beyond the end of the mandate at hand.
Protect
To preserve your rights to a given invention, it may be advisable to first file a European patent application and get you in line for the new unitary EU patent system. Within the year to follow this priority date, geographic coverage of the envisaged protection may be extended at your discretion to suit your legal and economic requirements. Roughly speaking, for the purpose of substantive examination, any patent application for the same invention that is submitted in a further jurisdiction within that period will be treated as if it, too, had been filed on the earlier priority date. This legal provision buys you time for market monitoring to weigh the cost and benefit of further filing. I will facilitate such analysis free of charge.
As for non-technical industrial rights, the respective European Union trade marks and Community designs in most cases allow us to safeguard your operations promptly and at moderate expense.
Negotiate
No need to shy away from confrontation when push comes to shove. That said, there are cases when conciliation may save you time and money better invested elsewhere. Prospects for amicable arrangement come in all shapes and sizes. In negotiation, we’ll ensure you don’t wind up getting the short end of the stick.
Enforce
The competition is threatening to breach your rights? Violation has already occured? In cases of urgency, we may choose to enforce your legitimate claim by means of preliminary injunction or, as far as goods are concerned, prohibit entry into as well as export or re-export from the EU. Where mandatory—such as when seeking damages—I will gladly work hand in hand with a lawyer of your preference or suggest a competent colleague to join our forces, standing up for you on any level of jurisdiction.
It is you who was ordered to cease and desist or accused of infringement? Be sure to anticipate the impending attack. If desired, we may perform long-term monitoring of your competitors’ portfolios to mitigate exposure even before it materializes.
