Team

Mitscherlich’s team of experts consists of German patent attorneys, European patent attorneys, European trademark and design attorneys and IP-specialized attorneys-at-law.
Our patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law possess the highest degrees of legal and technical qualification, many drawing from previous careers in industry. Individual teams are composed on a case-by-case basis, according to our strictly client-oriented principles of service. We are looking forward to putting our expertise at your disposal!

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.

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.

During the last 10 years, Mitscherlich has been successfully expanding its life science and chemistry department. The technical background of the team members covers chemistry, biology, biochemistry and pharmacology. Mitscherlich has thorough expertise in these fields, particularly in drafting and prosecuting patents, counselling, freedom-to-operate analyses [FTOs] and other opinion work, arbitration, litigation and opposition proceedings.

Mitscherlich’s life science and chemistry department is one of the firm‘s most active departments litigating oppositions at
the European Patent Office, having handled more than 150 opposition cases over the last 10 years and adding some 20 new cases every year. Their patent team has extensive experience in representation before the EPO in opposition and appeal cases. Furthermore, this insight enables Mitscherlich to give good predictions about the likely outcome of opposition proceedings, which in turn is very advantageous with regard to strategic advice, FTOs and other opinion work.

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.

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.

With now more than 950 Community design applications (CDRs) filed in 2013, 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.