Technology and Patents, R&D

Just as important as the development itself is the effective protection of operational know-how against imitators, e.g. through the registration of appropriate industrial property rights (patents or utility models) and the contractual safeguarding of sensitive information. This applies in particular if company secrets are to be disclosed to a business partner within the framework of a cooperation agreement. The partners in a research project should reach an agreement at the beginning with respect to who should be allocated the joint results of the work, how any sub-sequent marketing should be carried out and – last but not least – how the project is to be han-dled if it fails.

We advise and support technology companies and research facilities on prototype develop-ment and test phases from the beginning of a project up to the time of production and market launch. With regard to intellectual property right applications we cooperate with the renowned patent law firm Gulde, Hengelhaupt, Ziebig & Schneider.

The range of services we offer includes:

• Research and development agreements
• Protection of IP rights
• Application of IP rights
• Cooperation agreements
• Employee invention law
• Non-disclosure agreements (NDA)
• Litigation
• Memoranda of understanding and letters of intent (LOI)
• Licensing agreements