Many people are unaware that the slavish imitation, that is to say, the millimetre-exact copy of a new machine, for example, is permitted in principle. An attractive and successful design can also be copied in principle. What is more alarming: even after you have been using your own, but unregistered, trade mark for years, you can be prohibited by a competitor from continued use – that is to say, if the competitor has that trade mark registered in his own name.
As a rule, there is only one thing which guards against unwelcome competition copying your own technical innovations, effective product designs or successful trade marks: to file an application for industrial property rights in good time. The patent and the utility model are intended for technical inventions, aesthetic styling and other designs are protected by the design patent, company and product names or logos are safeguarded by trade marks.
As patent attorneys, we support you together with our colleagues, nationally and internationally, in registering these protective rights and in enforcing the same in respect of your competitors. In addition to this, we are your point of contact for all other matters of protecting industrial property rights, for example, regarding licence agreements or semiconductor topography.
