Intellectual Property

Ideas, creativity, and innovation all lead to new solutions. Intellectual property (IP) rights protect these solutions and help set our clients apart from their competitors. IP rights are a valuable asset and serve as the basis for the economic success of our clients. Protecting and defending IP rights are therefore our top priority.

Lexton’s team of internationally renowned experts and licensed specialists diligently draw on their extensive experience and profound industry knowledge to create and maintain the best possible level of protection for the IP rights of our clients. Lexton advises start-ups, small, and medium-sized enterprises as well as international corporations in developing, managing, exploiting and enforcing their portfolio of intellectual property rights.

PROTECTING IP

We review the protectability of the technical solutions you have invented as well as the works, designs, trademarks, domains, and the know-how you have created. Together with you, we develop national and international application and management strategies to ensure that your intellectual property rights are afforded maximum protection.

MANAGING IP

As part of our intellectual property rights management, we take care of your intellectual property rights portfolios, ensure they are upheld, and protect them from copycats and competitors using collision monitoring and WebWatch services.

EXPLOITING IP

When it comes to exploiting intellectual property, we advise and represent our clients in drafting and negotiating licence, franchise, distribution and, partnership agreements (including RD contracts) as well as NDAs and agreements to protect their know-how and business secrets.
In connection with MA transactions or the sale of IP rights, we draft the required contracts to assign rights and carry out legal due diligences with our colleagues from other areas of law.

ENFORCING IP

Lexton has extensive experience in enforcing the intellectual property rights of our clients – both in and out of court. We represent our clients and are fully committed to enforcing their rights before IP offices such as the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, EUIPO and WIPO (including UDRP proceedings) and before all regional and higher regional courts, and before the German Federal Patent Court, the European General Court (EGC), and the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
In the area of product piracy, we protect the intellectual property rights of clients, particularly through border seizure applications and close cooperation with customs and public authorities.

International

Lexton has an international network of carefully selected law firms at its disposal. These are recommended and respected in their respective countries for their expertise in the area of intellectual property law. Together with our partner law firms, we are able to promptly combat infringements or begin and coordinate concerted international actions against the infringing party in the event of cross-border issues or trademark infringements abroad.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The lawyers at Lexton specialising in intellectual property law have been consistently recommended by internationally renowned guides including BestLawyers, Handelsblatt, Legal500, WTR1000 – The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals and WIPR Leaders.

TRADEMARK AND DESIGN LAW

We advise and represent our clients in all aspects of trademark and design law. Here, we assist our clients in trademark and design creation, advise them on the protectability of their planned trademarks and designs and carry out trademark, design and domain name searches on a national and international level. We file trademark and design applications across the world. With the aid of our software-based trademark and design management system, we guarantee that relevant deadlines such as priority and renewal periods are met and thus uphold the level of protection required. We draft and negotiate national and international trademark and design licence agreements for our clients and advise them on special features with respect to multi-tier licensing models. To protect against trademark and design law infringements by third parties, we monitor trademark applications and registered designs, newly registered domain names and foundations of companies (collision monitoring) and track breaches and infringements on the Internet (WebWatch service). We deposit trademarks and proof of use with the Trademark Clearinghouse to protect against infringements by new gTLDs. In the event of an infringement of trademarks and design rights, we represent our clients in opposition, cancellation and nullity proceedings before the respective IP offices and enforce the rights of our clients through preliminary injunctions or by bringing main proceedings before the court. Particularly, border seizure measures and our experience in cooperating with customs and law enforcement authorities have often proved to be advantageous in curbing the distribution of counterfeit merchandise in product piracy.

COMPETITION AND ADVERTISING LAW

We review our clients’ advertisements and ad campaigns, marketing activities and market presence (online and offline) in terms of their legal admissibility, particularly with regards to their conformity with the German Act Against Unfair Competition. Here, we regularly advise with regard to new forms of digital advertising, such as social media advertising (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.), influencer marketing, as well as in-stream and in-page ads. We defend our clients against cease and desist letters from competitors or associations and issue CD letters, use preliminary injunctions or bring main proceedings before the court in the event of breaches of competition law by third parties (i.e., misleading advertising, product imitations, obstruction of competitors, unlawful headhunting, direct marketing) for purposes of ensuring they act in compliance with the law in the future. When drafting and negotiating agency agreements, we understand the viewpoints of both the customer and the advertising agencies. Here, we provide our clients with custom-tailored master or individual agreements for customers and contractors.

COPYRIGHT AND MEDIA LAW

It is impossible to imagine a world without copyrights. We encounter copyrighted works and related rights such as texts, images, videos, music and software every day, both online and offline. We advise the creative industry and exploiter of IP rights in drawing up and negotiating rights of use and licensing agreements. This comprises digital content agreements, total buyout agreements, software development and software licensing contracts (including for games), as well as standard author, photographer, model and publishing contracts. We can provide you with professional advice on how to deal with user-generated content, liability for proprietary and third-party content in digital media (such as hate speech) and new digital business models, as well as negotiate contracts on access to internet platforms (API) and commissioned productions in the music, film and commercial video industry. For film and television productions, we are able to advise our clients on product placement, sponsoring, merchandising, media labour law and the protection of minors in the media in particular. We are also specialised in advising individuals and companies in terms of the right to free speech and in press law matters with regard to infringements of personal rights, unauthorised use of a person’s image and other illegal representations in online media or traditional publications by media companies. We enforce counterstatement claims, injunctive relief and compensation claims and work together with our clients to develop a 360-degree strategy for preventing any impending damage to their reputation.

PATENTS, UTILITY MODELS, AND KNOW HOW

We advise our clients on the patentability of their technical inventions and if required involve patent lawyers from our network who are specialised in the required field of technology. In collaboration with our colleagues specialised in labour law, we advise on employee invention law and together with our clients, we draw up procedures and processes for a system to manage inventions and proposed technical improvements which both promotes innovation and is legally compliant. If protecting a patent or utility model is not possible or undesired, we develop a strategy to protect the know how together with our clients and draw up the required non-disclosure agreements and contracts to exploit the know how. Negotiating RD and partnership agreements on technology transfers is part of our standard portfolio of services, as is negotiating patent licence agreements. With the help of a multidisciplinary team, we advise clients in setting up RD joint ventures and in MA transactions with a focus on technology and intellectual property. In the event of infringements of patents, utility models or know how, we enforce the rights of our clients, both in court and out of court, as well as through preliminary injunctions. Furthermore, we monitor opposition and nullity proceedings and are able to draw on our network of patent lawyers at any time if required.

IP COMPLIANCE

At Lexton, IP compliance comprises briefings and consultations on the legal requirements in the area of IP law, as well as clearing intellectual property rights, developing IP management strategies and monitoring the introduction of software solutions for IP rights databases (such as image rights databases) to prevent infringements of third-party intellectual property rights. We regularly organise training seminars and workshops in this respect. We also draw up compliance reports based on analyses of procedures at our clients’ companies and with respect to their existing portfolio of intellectual property rights.