We are copyright experts with academic backgrounds and a rare fluency in different legal systems of copyright law. We are instructed by our clients to prepare advice on some of the most sophisticated and future-looking areas of copyright, including AI, text and data mining, the law and conflict of law rules applicable to copyright online, the impact of the copyright directive on copyright exceptions, creators rights, the right of equitable remuneration and its transformations, the application of copyright treaties. Few firms advise on so many aspects of copyright law, and we can assist you on all your copyright needs.

Intellectual property (IP) and intellectual property rights (IPRs) are among your company’s most valuable assets. Helping our clients protect these assets in a highly competitive global environment is our priority.

Whether an IP dispute concerns issues of infringement, ownership, enforcement, commercialization, or protection and fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing, our lawyers provide commercial advice and solutions that help protect our clients’ IPRs and innovations. By combining market-leading international arbitration experience with advanced technological knowledge, our IP international arbitration team works to maximize and protect the value of our clients’ IP and safeguard the rights at the heart of their businesses.

International arbitration permits parties facing multi-jurisdictional IP disputes to achieve consistent, confidential and enforceable results, enabling businesses to efficiently exploit and enforce their IPRs across borders and take back their competitive advantage.

Wir entwickeln Strategien zur Förderung von Innovation und maximieren den Wert Ihrer weltweiten Portfolios mit geistigem Eigentum (Intellectual Property, kurz IP), indem wir individuell angepasste Beratungsleistungen bieten, die Ihr geistiges Eigentum bewahren und schützen. Wir konzentrieren uns darauf, Ihnen dabei zu helfen, Ihre Geschäftsziele zu erreichen, in dem wir die wichtigsten IP-Vermögensgegenstände identifizieren und prüfen, in welchen Punkten diese besseren Schutz benötigen. Weiter ermitteln wir die geeignetsten Methoden zum Schutz und zur Sicherung dieser Vermögensgegenstände.

Fragen des geistigen Eigentums (Intellectual Property, kurz IP) sind grundsätzlich globaler Natur. Durch die Kombination der schlagkräftigen Erfahrung unserer Prozesspraxis mit unseren innovativen technologischen Kenntnissen, wenden wir ohne weiteres einen pragmatischen und wirtschaftlichen Ansatz an, um ihre wertvollsten Vermögensgegenstände zu erhalten und zu schützen. Wir vertreten in einer Vielzahl an IP-Rechtsstreitigkeiten, einschließlich in patent-, urheber-, marken- und designrechtlichen Auseinandersetzungen sowie in Bezug auf unlauteren Wettbewerb und Geheimnisschutz.

Trade secrets often comprise a large portion of the value of a company’s IP assets – and these assets sometimes represent a company’s “crown jewels.” Trade secret protection extends to a wide spectrum of information and technology, including research and development materials, technical know-how, source code, manufacturing processes and techniques, customer lists, marketing plans, business and financial information, and vendor information.

For these valuable assets, it is critical that companies take the necessary steps to keep them secret; otherwise, they risk not being able to enforce and prosecute their rights in the event of theft.

Maintaining strict controls around company trade secrets is all the more important given the massive increase in IP theft in recent years, with increased security threats from new hacking technologies, competitors, supply chain vendors and contractors, and foreign state actors. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, it is vitally important to update and implement trade secret protection policies to address risks associated with remote workforces, as well as risks of disclosure by disgruntled former employees who may have been terminated or furloughed and who may be motivated to take the company’s trade secrets to a new employer or otherwise disclose or use them.

Reed Smith has deep, worldwide experience helping clients develop robust trade secrets protection programs to minimize the threat of theft or inadvertent disclosure before problems arise. When disputes do arise, our deep bench of trial attorneys and litigators are well versed in trade secrets investigations and disputes and have a record of success across the globe.