Trademarks distinguish the goods and services of a business to those of other businesses.

Owners of registered trademarks acquire exclusive rights and are entitled to prevent others from unauthorized use of trademarks. These exclusive rights also provide remedies in case of trademark infringement.

A trademark may be inter alia a word, name, symbol or device, applications can be filed for word trademarks, applications can be filed for figurative trademarks (in particular font size, color or other design elements) or combinations thereof, applications for sound trademarks, three-dimensional trademarks, olfactory trademarks or other trademarks can be filed. We offer a wide range of trademark services and in co-operation with patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law we are able to provide assistance for all queries relating to trademark applications and registration procedures.

Our services in the field of trademark law cover in particular:

The drafting and preparation of lists of goods and services and entourage of our attorney-at-law during application and registration proceedings of

• national German trademarks
• Community trademarks
• International Registrations (IR-trademarks)
• national foreign trademarks

Additionally, we offer consultation in the following areas:

• Trademark searches (for identical or similar trademarks)
• Developing and creating a trademark
• Working out strategies and assisting in the management of the trademarks
• Managing, monitoring and filing renewal applications for national and international trademark portfolios
• Preparing sales and licence agreements
• Taking out an ad on copyrights of titles and enforcing copyrights of titles

We provide legal advice and representation

• in infringement proceedings: warning letters, preliminary injunctions, filing lawsuits
• in opposition and cancellation proceedings due to revocation or invalidation
• for applying for action by customs authorities
• regarding copyrights of titles and enforcement of copyrights of titles
• regarding enforcement of trademarks of an undertaking (trade names / business identifiers)
• in domain disputes (filing applications of dispute records at DENIC)

Our power of representation includes representation before the following Patent Offices, Courts and Organizations:

• German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) in Munich
• German District Courts and Higher District Courts
• German Federal Patent Court (BPatG) in Munich
• German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe
• Trademarks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union (previously known as Office of Harmonization for the Internal market, OHIM) in Alicante, Spain
• European General Court (EuG, previously known as "Court of First Instance"), Luxembourg
• European Court of Justice (ECJ) Luxembourg
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva

Any natural or legal person, or anybody equivalent to a legal person, may apply for a German trademark. We are eager to assist you in all aspects when filing a trademark application.

Preliminary Work

Before filing your trademark application at the German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO), we would be pleased to give you professional advice followed by assisting you in preparing a list of goods and services which best identifies your trademark and which guarantees the utmost protection for your trademark. Further, before filing the trademark application at the German Patent and Trademark Office, we could check if your trademark infringes existing older rights, in other words, we could check if similar or identical trademarks have already been registered, as the German Patent and Trademark Office does not conduct such an examination. As soon as we are in receipt of all necessary data for filing a trademark application, for example, the name of the applicant, what type of trademark is to be registered and so on, we will file the application. Contact can be made in writing or by telephone, however, we would also be very pleased to arrange a personal consultation in our office.

Official fees

When filing a German trademark application, official fees of the German Patent and Trademark Office are due and to be paid at the time of filing. The official fee for filing a German trademark application is 300.00 EUR, which includes three classes of goods and services. For each further class of goods and services, the German Patent and Trademark Office's official fee is 100.00 EUR. Once the application has been filed, registration of the German trademark will normally take several months. Should you wish to have your trademark registered within a few months, a request for accelerated examination can be filed with the German Patent and Trademark Office. There is an official fee of 200.00 EUR for such a request. Should you be interested in receiving our Tariff of Charges, please contact us. Upon request, we would be happy to provide you with cost estimates.

Important to note

When filing a trademark application at the German Patent and Trademark Office, protection is obtained only for Germany. If protection of your trademark is desired in the European Union, a trademark application can be filed at the Trademarks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union (previously known as Office of Harmonization for the Internal market, OHIM) in Alicante, Spain. If further protection is sought outside of Germany and the European Union, either national applications can be filed in countries of your choice, or a single application for International registration can be filed at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva, covering 94 contracting parties (status of December 11, 2014), via the German Patent and Trademark Office.