Practices
Client-oriented advice for highly specialized industries requires special skills in various complex legal disciplines. One focus of Ronneburger:Zumpf Rechtsanwälte lies in industrial property and media law in the broader sense.
Of course, advice always affects other specialist disciplines as well, which is why we are of course also available to provide you with qualified advice and support beyond the specialist areas mentioned.
COPYRIGHT LAW
With its protection for personal and intellectual creations, copyright has a long tradition in Germany.
Due to technical progress and change, it has been subject to reform projects in recent years and also repeatedly exposed to individual criticism. Copyright plays a central role for the media and entertainment industry, but also for the IT sector.
We try to do justice to this by providing advice with a high level of expertise and experience in the various varieties of German and international copyright law. We support our clients in defending and enforcing copyrights, exploitation rights or rights of use nationally and internationally, in and out of court. We accompany our clients and find suitable solutions for them. From the creation of the work to the licensing and exploitation of your work. Regardless of whether it is a work of literature, film or music, stage work or theater play, computer game, software or design creation.
TRADEMARK LAW
A modern market would be inconceivable without brands.
Only a clever brand maximizes the success of a product, a service or an entire company. Successful brands are only made so valuable when customers associate them with a company or individual products or services. And these must be built up, protected, defended and commercialized.
We support you with advice and representation in all areas of trademark law.
TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
We advise you in advance of registration by developing a brand strategy.
We carry out trademark research for you and check whether other rights prevent registration or use. We represent you in registration procedures before the German Patent and Trademark Office, before the European Trademark Office (EUIPO), as well as at the international level at WIPO.
In our opinion, individual legal support and advice are usually necessary for a trademark registration. Unless the applicant already has extensive experience in registering trademarks, which makes legal support unnecessary in this case. One thing is certain: if advice, then right.
Contact us and we will discuss your concerns with you personally.
TRADEMARK SECURITY, DEFENSE AND SUPPORT
We are there for you to legally help you to maintain and exploit the value of your brand. We step into the ring for you when it comes to defending your brand. We look after and monitor your registered trademarks. Be it against parallel imports, product piracy, reputation exploitation or the entry of brands that can be confused with in the corresponding brand registers. We take action against infringers, nationally and internationally, out of court and in court. We help you with sales and licensing through contractual advice, testing and preparation.
DEFENSE AGAINST TRADEMARK ATTACKS
We fend off trademark warnings from other trademark owners. We check whether the extrajudicial warning is justified or unjustified, and explain possible process risks and the options for further action. We negotiate options for reaching an agreement with the other side, such as a delimitation agreement, or we go on the offensive and have the matter settled in court. Do you need competent help in trademark law? We support you with advice and representation in all areas of trademark law.
COMPETITION LAW AND ADVERTISING LAW
Where there is tough competition, the bandages are tightened. In order to ensure fair performance competition, not everything that is possible is allowed in competition and advertising.
Competition law serves to regulate market participants and is intended to ensure free competition between services. To a large extent, it is shaped by individual cases and jurisprudence. This can only be countered with special expertise, which we regularly deepen and develop through our regular competitive representation practice, advanced training and our own teaching activities.
We take action against unfair behavior on the part of your competitors and ward off attacks from them. We represent you in competition law disputes with competitors, business associations or consumer protection associations. We advise you on your product and advertising campaigns, your sales and marketing strategies.
MEDIA- AND PRESS LAW
The public perception of private individuals or companies can be irreversibly and negatively influenced by false or abusive text and image reporting or by other publications that violate personal rights. This can only be countered with advice and representation under press law.
We proceed in and out of court against violations of general personal rights – regardless of whether in the conventional press or on the Internet. Or we can fend off unjustified extrajudicial or judicial “attacks” for you. Here you can make use of our experience before the relevant press chambers of the regional courts.
For many companies, but also for individuals, reputation management is gaining in importance. We advise and represent you in the field of public relations and external representation, in publications, licensing and marketing.
Feel free to contact us. We advise and represent you in all conceivable areas of press and personal law.
IT LAW
The uses and forms of application of digital media are changing rapidly. While yesterday everything revolved around imitating the real world in digital space, the current omnipresent topic is called social media. Regardless of which trend comes in the future: The Internet has long been a matter of course in our time. The fast pace of individual aspects does not make legal advice easy.
With our special expertise in IT law, we try to shed light on you: into the confusing area of legal pitfalls related to the Internet.
The spectrum begins with questions about legal problems related to domains. We also take care of data protection issues relating to the use of social media plug-ins and liability issues from platform operators in the event of trademark or personal rights violations and the defense against corresponding claims. We also carry out the creation of contracts for your e-commerce platform with confidence.
DESIGN LAW
Against the background of the mostly given function and the known treasure trove of shapes, design is often not entitled to copyright protection. However, the need to protect designs against counterfeiting exists for designers and investing companies alike.
A design can be registered as a registered design so that companies and designers can protect their creations against imitation. Under certain circumstances, protection can also exist without registration under the European Design Law.
We are ready for you to protect and utilize your design.
We register designs for you, help you to utilize designs by drafting license agreements and distribution agreements and take action against infringements of your design. We check whether your design violates the registered design of third parties or defend against judicial or extrajudicial attacks against your design or the product you sell.
DATA PROTECTION LAW
Even if data protection has recently come to the fore in connection with social media platforms and internet usage, data protection law goes much further. At the latest when the General Data Protection Regulation comes into force, data protection law places strict requirements on companies, organizations and website operators in terms of the storage and processing of personal data.
Since violations can lead to sensitive fines and, in individual cases, to claims from competitors, we recommend that you seek advice on the legal requirements. When transferring personal data, especially to non-EU countries in the context of outsourcing such as cloud computing (e.g. ASP or Software as Service), companies must ensure an appropriate level of protection through contractual clauses (EU standard contractual clauses; EU privacyshield).
We want to help you overcome data protection obstacles by working with you to develop practical solutions for your company.
DATA PROTECTION OFFICER
From a certain number of employees who are involved in the processing of personal data, companies must appoint a data protection officer under certain conditions. Against the background of the additionally required knowledge of legal regulations (GDPR, BDSG, personality rights, TMG, TKG, UWG) and the associated training costs, companies repeatedly rely on the appointment of an external, neutral data protection officer.
On request, we can provide the external data protection officer for your company or train your employees for this task.
CORPORATE LAW
Do you want to found a new spin-off and outsource the liability risks? Do you want to realize your new business idea and have found partners or financiers? Do you want to transfer your licenses to an external company to protect it from bankruptcy? There are many reasons why we can help you with corporate law advice.
The choice of company form and the corresponding legal structure can have a significant impact on various areas – for example on your tax liability, accounting obligation, profit and loss sharing. Together with our cooperation partners, we will advise you on the choice of the appropriate company or organizational form and, taking into account the specifics of the individual case, we will prepare articles of association and articles of association.
We enforce your rights before courts and arbitration boards.
Contact us, so that we can also advise you on corporate law matters.
Contract law
For an entrepreneurial activity, legal certainty with regard to the concluded contracts is essential. This is especially true for highly specialized industries.
We will draft individual contracts for you, taking into account the specifics of your industry and the relevant areas of law. Regardless of whether it is an employment contract, license agreement or general terms and conditions.
We check contracts or contract proposals for legal risks. We represent you in national and international contract negotiations. We punish breaches of contract for you. We enforce your contractual claims nationally or (through our cooperation partners) internationally, be it before a national court or an arbitration court.
Patent law and utility model
SUPPORT OF YOUR TECHNICAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Your technical property rights need to be defended and enforced. This applies equally to patents and utility models.
We advise and represent you in the event of patent infringements by third parties. We defend you against unjustified attacks on property rights. We take action against unauthorized imports for you. We create patent and know-how license agreements, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) or distribution agreements for you.
REGISTRATION OF YOUR TECHNICAL PROPERTY RIGHT
Together with our cooperation partners, we take care of protecting your invention. We look after and represent you in the context of patent and utility model registration procedures.