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KUNZE

Kunze Rechtsanwälte is a law firm in Munich that specializes in the field of intellectual property law.

Our work for you is based on sound economic and industry-specific know-how and our many years of experience as a consultant and partner for company founders, corporations, medium-sized companies and financial investors as well as family businesses and art collectors located in Germany and abroad.

With more than sixty years of accumulated legal experience, we have established ourselves and are recognized nationally and internationally in the field of Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright Law and related areas of licensing, International Contract Law and Art and Culture Law. We see ourselves as active and enlivening partners for our clients – from individuals to medium-sized and large companies as well as patent and law firms in Germany and abroad. While advice on strategy and conflict avoidance are pillars of our activity, we are not afraid of pursuing legal disputes. Our leitmotif is commitment with competence, passion and pragmatism.

References

2021
Judgment of the General Court of the EU in case T-663/19 confirming the invalidity of EUTM 009 071 961 “Monopoly” based upon bad faith. The successful party was represented by Kunze Rechtsanwälte – Solicitor (England & Wales) PartG mbB.
2021
Acting on behalf of the successful trademark applicant before the Trademark Tribunal of the UKIPO in opposition proceedings brought by Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC.
2021
Successful defence against an application for interim injunction filed with the High Court in Lausanne (CH) regarding the use of a trademark that had been registered in CH for nearly half a century.
2020
Specialist journal „Wettbewerb in Recht und Praxis“ (WRP) publishes the article titled „BVerfG-Vorgaben im UWG-Eilverfahren: Ausgewählte Aspekte für die RA-Praxis“ written by our lawyer Frank Tyra (WRP 2020, 1525 ff., available below under “Publications” by Frank Tyra).
2019
Decision of the Second Board of Appeal of the EUIPO relating to the declaration of invalidity of the European Union trademark registration “Monopoly” within the framework of a fundamental decision (decision not yet final – action of Hasbro, Inc. currently pending before the General Court of the European Union)
2018
Lifting of an interim injunction of the Regional Court of Bremen in favour of an International fashion platform against Ivo Kermatin Ltd. and associated companies of Mr. Erich Auer.
2018
Attending the third oral hearing in the entire history of the EUIPO pertaining to the declaration of invalidity of the unlawful repetitive trademark “Monopoly” by Hasbro, Inc.
2016
Confirmation of an interim injunction against a company of Mr. Erich Auer because of an unjustified customer warning.
2015
Rejection of a request for grant of an interim injunction by the Regional Court of Dusseldorf because of the allegation of design violation in connection with insulating sleeves.
2014
The Federal Court of Justice decides fundamental questions regarding the protection of company symbols and procedural aspects pertaining to the risk of first infringement in the case of trademark applications (BGH I ZR 71/12 REAL-Chips).
2013
The General Court of the European Union declares the cancellation of the EU trademark "Castel" for wines due to the descriptive geographical indication of origin "castell" (EUG T-320/10, confirmed by decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 30 April 2015, C-622/13 P).
2011
Landmark decision of the German Federal Supreme Court on the copyright protection of educational games (BGH I ZR 140/09) under the LÜK® brand in favour of the Westermann Verlag.
2009
The International Court of Arbitration (ICC) renders a decision in a license dispute between an Austrian sporting goods manufacturer and its US sales partner represented by us.
2009
Defense against a lawsuit brought for patent related damage claims in connection with ski bindings before the Regional Court of Nuremberg-Furth.

Expertise

Our expertise has not only been demonstrated in numerous legal proceedings before the German courts, but also in proceedings before the General Court of the European Union and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in more than eighty cases. This makes us one of the few law practices which is regularly mandated to proceed with cases that involve fundamental and landmark proceedings with far-reaching implications for the interpretation of the relevant laws relating to European trademark and plant breeders’ rights.

Our thinking and acting is European and driven by a profound knowledge of English Common and European Civil law developments and their jurisprudence. We are licensed to directly represent our clients before the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland (IPOI), the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) and the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) as well as before all Regional and Higher Regional Courts and the German Federal Patent Court, i.e. without the need to involve local representatives in these countries.

Due to the dual qualification of Roland Kunze, who is a German lawyer certified as a specialist for IP law and licensed as a solicitor (England & Wales), he has built up extensive expertise in the United Kingdom over the years, which we can now rely upon to enable us to cope with the consequences of BREXIT. Mr. Kunze is thus a reliable and seasoned partner for UK-based companies and law firms as well as German and International companies in matters of Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright Law and related areas of licensing, International Contract Law and Art and Culture Law, also in the United Kingdom. He regularly represents clients directly before the UKIPO in application as well as cancellation and revocation proceedings.

Law is a specialist area which we see as a means and tool for protecting and developing economic assets ​​for our clients. So, we are not so much concerned about “being in the right” but about how we can formulate and protect your intellectual property as assets – We bite if necessary! We also provide services as part of M&A projects and also offer second opinions and/or expert advice prior to or during ongoing legal disputes.

In connection with the registration and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights abroad, we can fall back on our network of highly-qualified colleagues, which has been established over the decades, whereby we are not integrated into a fixed network. Therefore, we can also act independently in such proceedings.

Please do not hesitate to contact us!

Industry Sectors

  • Public Authorities and Foundations
  • E-Commerce
  • Fashion
  • Financial Services
  • Liberal Professions (e.g. doctors, lawyers, patent attorneys, tax advisors)
  • Research & Development
  • Consumer Goods
  • Food Industry und Food Industry Suppliers
  • Media, Entertainment & Sport
  • Medical Products
  • Pharmaceutical Products & Life Science
  • Private Wealth & Art Advisory Services
  • Games and Toys
  • Advertising- & Marketing Agencies

Areas of Expertise

  • Warning Letters
  • Employee Invention Law, Employment Relationships (Intellectual Property Rights)
  • Right to Free Expression, Boycott Requests, False Factual Claims
  • Data Protection Law
  • Design Rights, National, European und International Design Applications
  • Domain Law
  • Rules of Professional Conduct and Unfair Competition (doctors, lawyers, patent professionals and tax advisors)
  • Secrecy Law, Confidentiality Agreements
  • Legal Disputes in German and English
  • Drug Advertising Law, Bad Faith, Unfair Competition
  • Art Law, Consultancy, Contracts
  • Food Law, Health Claims
  • Licensing Law, Franchise
  • Trademark Law
  • Mediation
  • Copyright and Publishing Law
  • Competition Law, Law against Unfair Competition
  • Advertising Law
  • Second Opinion
  • Law of the United Kingdom

Team

Roland Kunze, LL.M. (University of Kent)

Lawyer
Certified Specialist for IP Law
Solicitor (England & Wales)

About Roland Kunze
  • Founding Partner of WürtenbergerKunze (2012-2020)
  • Lawyer at Wuesthoff & Wuesthoff; Partner as of 2005 (2000 – 2012)
  • Training: Regional Court Nürnberg-Fürth; Department of International Legal Affairs at the European Patent Office, Munich; Law Firm AshurstMorrisCrisp, London
  • University of Kent/England, LL.M. in International Commercial Law – Thesis on Trademark Infringement under English and European Law
  • Legal Studies at the Universities of Regensburg und Aberdeen (Scotland)
Organization and Association Membership
  • Member of the Law Society of England and Wales
  • Overseas Member of the Chartered Institute of Trademark Attorneys (CITMA), London
  • German Association for Industrial Property and Copyrights (GRUR)
  • Board Member of the Regional Bavarian Group of GRUR
  • International Trade Mark Association (INTA)
  • Association Internationale pour la Protection De La Propriété Intellectuelle (AIPPI)
  • German-English Lawyers‘ Association
  • German Bar Association: Committee on Intellectual Property Law and Committee on International Legal Relations
  • Regular Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law and Media Law at the Munich Marketing Academy since 2017
Publications
  • Publications/Lectures “The Protection of Titles of Works (German perspective)”; EUIPO Case law conference, Alicante Mai 2018
  • A comprehensive international guide to Trademark Cancellations practice and Procedure – Germany; International Trademark Association Publication, 5. Auflage 2019; 4. Auflage 2015, 3. Auflage 2012; 2. Auflage 2010; 1. Auflage 2008)
  • A suitable introduction for IP novices? Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice [2015], 314-315
  • “Trade Mark Registrations in Bad Faith” von A. Tsoutsanis, Buchbesprechung, The Trademark Reporter – The Law Journal of the International Trademark Association – September-October 2011
  • Generic Internet Domains in the Light of German Trademark Law and Unfair Competition Law – Unfair Competition (through) Case Law? in European Intellectual Property Review (EIPR), 2004, 424-428
  • Generic Internet Domains and German Law in German Tax and Business Law Newsletter, Issue 38, Nov. 2002
  • “Registered Design Rights – Determination of Damages for Design Right Infringement “European Intellectual Property Review (EIPR), 2001, N120-121

Frank Tyra

Lawyer
Certified Specialist for IP Law

About Frank Tyra

I am happy to advise and represent you in all matters of Intellectual Property Law. Since April 2020 I have been part of the founding team of KUNZE Rechtsanwälte, after I had been working with Mr. Kunze in his previous law firm for 2 ½ years. Previously, after a valuable decade at the Cologne headquarters of a law firm specializing in the field of Industrial Property Rights, I had set up and conducted the business of a branch of this law firm between the autumn of 2011 and 2017 in Munich, which is the seat of the headquarters of the German Patent and Trademark Office and the seat of the German Federal Patent Court.

In addition to the examination and protection of property rights, in particular brands and designs, my other focus is on the Civil Law enforcement of property rights and claims based on the Law against Unfair Competition, and also on defending clients against (unjustified) warning letters and lawsuits. One of my main areas of interest is Food Law and Medical Advertising Law and associated areas such as the Law against Unfair Competition. Also, my student activities as a DJ have significantly enhanced my familiarity with questions pertaining to Copyright Law.

In addition, I bring in my practical experience as a legal advisor and representative to raise entrepreneurs’ awareness, by means of lectures, on questions related to my areas of law. I am also happy to assist you in that regard, be it in-house or at the inner circle of your entrepreneurial network, if desired.

Organization and Association Membership
  • German Association for Industrial Property and Copyrights (GRUR)
  • SVN München e.V. (Section: Tae-Kwon-Do, 2nd degree black belt with BLSV Trainer Licence C)
Publications
  • BVerfG-Vorgaben im UWG-Eilverfahren: Ausgewählte Aspekte für die RA-Praxis (WRP 2020, 1525 ff., full text available here)
  • Guter Name oder Schall und Rauch? Rechtsschutz durch Marken und geschäftliche Bezeichnungen, self-published (free) e-book, Munich 2016
  • Das „L’Oréal“-Urteil des EuGH – „Sternstunde“ oder „Sternschnuppe“ des Markenrechts? (mit Dr. Ine-Marie Schulte-Franzheim, FS Fezer, München 2016, S. 509 ff.)
  • Werbung mit Auszeichnungen nach „Kamerakauf im Internet“ (mit Dr. Ine-Marie Schulte-Franzheim, FS Bornkamm, München 2014, S. 489 ff.)
  • Einstweiliger gewerblicher Rechtsschutz durch Kölner Gerichte (mit Dr. Bernd Bürglen, IPRB 2011, S. 213 ff.)
  • Ergänzungsgefahr im Einzelhandel mit Waren (MarkenR 2011, 300 ff.)
  • Ausgewählte Probleme aus der Abmahnpraxis bei Privatnutzungen in Musiktauschsystemen (ZUM 2009, 934 ff.)
  • Benutzungsmarke ohne Benutzungshandlung des Inhabers? (mit Dr. Ine-Marie Schulte-Franzheim, Berufung als Beruf, FS Samwer, München 2008, S. 183 ff.)
  • Notwendigkeit der Mitwirkung eines Patentanwalts als Voraussetzung der Gebührenerstattung in Kennzeichen- und Geschmacksmusterstreitsachen (WRP 2007, 1059 ff.)
  • Die Prägung von Wort-/Bildmarken im Gemeinschaftsmarkensystem (MarkenR 2005, 481 ff.)
  • Die Zuordnung von Namensmarken durch das HABM im Lichte der deutschen Rechtsprechung (GRUR 2004, 981 ff.)
  • Die Unternehmenskennzeichenschutzanzeige (WRP 2003, 45 ff.)
  • Alter Hut bleibt in Mode – Rechtliche Aspekte des Samplings im Bereich der sog. Dancemusic (ZUM 2001, 49 ff.)
  • Frank Tyras (Gratis-) E-Book zu Marken und Unternehmenskennzeichen

Erich J. Beer

Lawyer

About Erich Beer

After completing his legal exams and working as a research assistant at the University of Regensburg, Erich Beer was called to the bar in 1999. While he is still a lecturer to this day at various universities, he had worked for many years in one of the most distinguished law firms in Regensburg – after working in a law firm that was specialized in business and tax law. Even after moving over to the industrial sector, he continues to work as a lawyer and to appear in court. His focus is on Civil Law, inter alia contract law and its relationship with intellectual property law. His many years of experience in industry and healthcare makes him a much sought-after and competent partner for legal matters.

Membership in Organisations and Associations
  • Bar Association of Regensburg
  • German Bar Association

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