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Markus Deck
Partner

Markus Deck, M.C.J. (University of Texas, Austin)

Rechtsanwalt | Head of Intellectual Property, Germany

Languages
  • German
  • English
  • French
  • Spanish

Markus Deck is an intellectual property expert with more than 30 years of experience and a particular focus on technology-related projects. He specialises in patent law and represents clients in litigation and non-litigious matters. He regularly advises on technology-driven transactions which often revolve around the allocation and exploitation of intellectual property. In this context, Markus’s clients also benefit from his competition, antitrust and distribution law expertise.

Markus has successfully handled more than 100 licensing, settlement and other IP agreements and on an ongoing basis, he also advises his clients on legal issues related to product piracy, trade secrets and inventions by employees. He is particularly well known for his work enforcing intellectual property rights which he does on a national as well as international level and before courts and in arbitration proceedings. His clients include multinational groups but also medium-sized companies and start-ups.

Markus has been an intellectual property partner since 2007. Prior to joining CMS, he was a partner at Linklaters and its predecessors (since 1998) where he had been a member of the firm's intellectual property group since 1989. Markus Deck is co-author of the "Münchener Anwaltshandbuch” and the De Gruyter commentary on the German Law on the Protection of Trade Secrets.

Awards & Recognitions
01
  • Quote
    „Insbesondere Markus Deck überzeugt immer durch seine Verbindlichkeit, Klarheit der Aussagen, umfassenden rechtlichen Kenntnisse, Durchsetzungsstärke betreffend unsere Interessen, Verfügbarkeit etc. In jeder Hinsicht ein vorbildlicher Rechtsanwalt.“
    The Legal 500 Deutschland, 2020

Relevant experience

  • Advising and representing Nanya Corporation in patent infringement proceedings with regards to patents in the field of semiconductor memory technology that are standard-essential as well as enforcing patent licences in the case of insolvency of the licensor
  • Providing cross-border advice to the insolvency administrator of Karmann GmbH on selling individual business units and on the necessary structuring and exploitation of a comprehensive IP portfolio; developing a licensing structure for the different (prospective) buyers
  • Lead advisor on multinational patent infringement proceedings for Otis Elevator Company, in particular coordinating the proceedings with the lawyers involved in different European countries as well as in the USA plus handling numerous German patent infringement proceedings including invalidity proceedings

Publications

  • Muenchener Anwaltshandbuch Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz, 6. Aufl., C. H. Beck Verlag 2022
  • Hoeren / Muenker (Hrsg.), Gesetz zum Schutz von Geschaeftsgeheimnissen, De Gruyter Kommentar, 2021

Memberships & Roles

  • Licensing Executives Society (LES)
  • International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI)
  • European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW)
  • German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR)
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

Lectures list

  • Regular presentations for the Forum Institut for Management in the area of IP.

Education

  • 1992: Second state examination in law, following trainee lawyer period in Cologne and Chicago (Katten, Muchin & Zavis)
  • 1989 - 1992: Part-time work with Boden Oppenhoff’s intellectual property group
  • 1988: Master of Comparative Jurisprudence, University of Texas, Austin
  • 1986 - 1987: Research assistant at Cologne University’s Institute of Foreign Private and Private International Law
  • 1986: First state examination in law
  • Law studies in Cologne and Geneva

Insights by Markus

CMS at INTA 2026

02 May 2026

UK Rate Setting and German FRAND Proceedings

03 Mar 2026 10 min read

ACC Annual Meeting 2025

19 Oct 2025

CMS accelerates expansion of patent law practice – Enhanced with addition of two prestigious partners

26 Jun 2025 4 min read
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