Practice Areas
Mitscherlich’s reputation as a prime address for IP law in Germany is founded on securing, defending and asserting the patent, trademark and design patent rights of our international clients.
Our clients include major international corporations as well as medium-sized enterprises from all over the world, particularly from Euro- pe, Asia and the Americas. If required, our attorneys-at-law support our patent attorneys to form individual litigation teams tailored to the particular needs of the client and to individual cases where patents, trademarks and designs are being asserted or defended against competitors.
Technologies intertwine in a modern world. Below is a selection of legal and technical areas of practice at Mitscherlich from which we form teams to serve a wide variety of industrial clients.
Electronics
The lighting industry is an exemplary sector where electronics and design merge to form a new product. An innovative lamp produces its characteristic light that translates into a certain look and feel in a room. Thus lighting is also a field where the IP rights of patent and design are both strategically used to distinguish ones product from that of the competition. We offer both services, founded on the expe- rience needed for sound strategic advice.
Communication
Clients from the Communication and IT sectors are being served by one of Mitscherlich’s largest practice groups. The size of this team is reflected in the technical flexibility we can offer in these fields where informatics meet electro-physics. Standard-related patent strategy and cross-national litigation are scenarios where we can offer the best advice for our clients.
Software
Software is protected by copyright, and while algorithms per se are not patent-protectable there are software programmes that are eli- gible to patentability. Only by demonstrating a certain degree of “technicity”, i.e. its ability to run on a computer, may patent protection be awarded. We know how to formulate the claims of your software patent to pass these hurdles and navigate through the examination procedure.
Semiconductors
How enormous amounts of data can be saved, intelligently arranged and speedily retrieved is one of the central challenges of the digital age. With our thumbs on the pulse of time in semiconductor technology, our team of specialised physicists handles the patenting of inno- vations in this field on a daily basis.
Energy
In the field of energy, the focus of the public eye is shifting away from fossil fuels and nuclear power to the solar, the thermal and the forces of wind and water. How to generate, store and lead energy more cleanly, efficiently and at a reasonable cost are central technological challenges of our age. We are proud to contribute the patent work that safeguards important inventions in the field of energy.
Mechanics
Tool making and special machinery are at the heart of the German Mittelstand where a number of medium-sized businesses have reached world-leading status in their market niche. We at Mitscherlich closely identify with this tradition and the engineering capacity behind it. Many of our patent attorneys are industry-trained engineers. They do the patent work that secures for our German and interna- tional clients a leading edge in a global economy.
Automotive
In today’s cars there is a range of technologies at interplay: From the robotics in the factory to tailormade software for navigation, security systems and electronic assistants, up to the latest drive technology and other fuel-saving inventions. Having served clients in this field for decades, we know their multiple concerns and will form our team of experts according to the given task.
Medical Devices
What’s hidden inside an ultrasonic tooth-drilling device? A sensitive, software-driven machine perfected in many experiments, finally pro- tected by a patent or two. Our experts with their different technical specialisations won’t shy away from taking unconventional interdiscip- linary approaches to find the right patent solution for your individual device.
Chemistry
At the heart of most newly created chemical compounds are process patents that protect the innovative steps of manufacture. An unc- lear numerical range might define the density of the central compound used, while the distance to the state of the art might be minimal … Sound familiar? Mitscherlich’s chemical practice team makes an extra effort and has the necessary experience to carve out a maximum scope of protection for your chemical patent.
Pharmaceuticals
On its long way from the R&D stage to a patent-protected medicinal product, there are many turns to be taken. Our experienced experts in organic/inorganic chemistry, biology and life science help you make the right decisions, legal and technical, at every fork of the path in order to attain patent protection for your pharmaceutical innovation.
Trademarks
With now more than 200 European Union trademark applications (EUTMs) filed each year, the trademark prosecution team is among the top ten firms filing EUTMs in Germany. During the last ten years, Mitscherlich has handled more than 500 opposition cases at the German Patent and Trademark Office and the European Trademark Office, and also has taken several cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union on behalf of our clients. Especially in the last years, also the litigation practice of the trademark department has grown rapidly. We are currently representing a considerable number of clients with lawsuits before the high courts in Germany. We also represent a high number of custom seizure requests, which we have filed on behalf of our clients in order to assist them with anti-piracy actions.
Designs
With now more than 2000 Community design applications (CDRs), the design prosecution team at Mitscherlich is among the top firms filing CDRs in Germany. We are currently representing a considerable number of clients with lawsuits before the high courts in Germany. We also represent a high number of custom seizure requests for design patents, which we have filed on behalf of our clients in order to assist them with anti-piracy actions. German and international clients alike appreciate the professionalism of the design regime in Europe, which ensures a certain standard of predictability, which is further sustained by the experience of our attorneys-at-law in all matters of design law.
Litigation
The value of even sophisticated intellectual property portfolios also depends on the possibilities of their effective enforcement against infringements. Mitscherlich has been emphatically and successfully supporting its national and international clients in this respect for decades. Mitscherlich’s core competencies include advising and representing clients in court proceedings on the merits and preliminary injunction proceedings as well as, for example, combating infringements at trade fairs and defending against unjustified attacks based on intellectual property rights acquired in bad faith. In cross-border disputes, Mitscherlich can rely on the support of its established global network of highly specialized law firms.