Design Law

Design adds value to products and makes them stand out from the crowd. As a cornerstone of your success in business, your design needs to be defended against possible counterfeiters.

CMS can protect your design

The legal experts at CMS Germany offer an extensive portfolio of services. For example, we advise industrial companies, designers, creative professionals and agencies on the acquisition, assertion and exploitation of registered designs – both national and international.

Our lawyers provide effective support throughout the entire process of acquiring property rights – from devising your specific property rights strategy through filing and registering your designs to management and maintenance of your portfolio.

Necessary, not just nice to have: protection of registered designs

Infringement of a registered design is not a trivial offence. CMS helps you to assert your design rights both in court and out-of-court. We represent you before official bodies and courts of arbitration, in infringement cases, nullity proceedings and injunction proceedings (even obtaining a court order within 24 hours, depending on circumstances).

Our service portfolio also includes representing you in contract negotiations and delimitation agreements, as well as in mediation and in border seizure cases.

We take a long-term commercial view

Our approach is always to maximise your value. We deal with the drafting of registered design licensing and rights transfer agreements – regionally, internationally and globally.

In safeguarding your interests, we are always guided by your company's business requirements. The specialists in our advisory team establish your specific need for protection, weighing up costs and benefits as well as risks and opportunities.