Legal 500 Germany 2020/2021

Ranking Trademark Law – Tier 1

KLAKA Attorneys-at-Law particularly impresses with its many years of experience in handling significant and complex infringement cases.The office has especially profound knowledge in the automotive, pharmaceutical, fashion, sports, luxury goods, banking and insurance sectors. The strong trademark practice, which recently handled a number of high-profile cases in the field of color trademarks and related litigation, is complemented by a powerful design practice, especially in the automotive sector. In addition, one profits from the cooperation with the competition practice. The practice group leader in the Munich office is the renowned Ralf Hackbarth, who is well-versed in trademark, design and competition law. The firm's second office is in Düsseldorf. Carola Onken, also in Munich, has profound knowledge of the interface between trademark and food law and the law of protected designations of origin.

Trademark law: Leading names
Ralf Hackbarth - KLAKA Rechtsanwälte

Trademark law: names of the next generation
Carola Onken - KLAKA Rechtsanwälte

Trademark Law: References

"Ralf Hackbarth and Florian Schmidt-Sauerhöfer are a well-coordinated team that complements each other perfectly."

"Ralf Hackbarth is an extremely experienced litigator in trademark and design law who maintains an overview and is able to make use of his experience, especially in large complex proceedings. Florian Schmidt-Sauerhöfer is an extremely engaged litigator who spares no effort for success."

"Extensive knowledge of trademark law, international contacts in worldwide trademark applications, fast competent advice with good solution proposals customized to the client."

"Oliver Rauscher has known the specific needs of the client for many years and from this he develops good solutions in trademark law issues. The same applies to Ralf Hackbarth. Both have extensive knowledge of trademark and competition law and give quick and easily implementable advice."

"The cooperation with Klaka is highly professional and goal-oriented. Regardless of the legal situation and the prospects of success, coordination with the sales department is always sought so that the sales strategic orientation can also be taken into account. In this way, solutions can be found TOGETHER that involve all departments. In addition, Klaka is well networked. But most importantly, we are extremely satisfied with Klaka's results and have been successfully active together for many years."

"Stefan Abel's ability to handle all correspondence in German, English and also French is extremely helpful. Mr. Abel also has a very pleasant manner. In addition to his professional qualifications, dealing with him is extremely uncomplicated and pleasant. Mr. Abel's response time and accessibility is also far above the average that I know from other law firms or lawyers."

Ranking Competition Law - Tier 1

At KLAKA Rechtsanwälte, clients will find both a competition law practice closely related to the trademark practice, especially in the automotive, fashion, pharmaceutical and insurance sectors, as well as an independent unfair competition law practice, within which the longstanding work for the Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs (Central Office for Combating Unfair Competition) stands out, especially in the fields of medical, pharmacy and drug law. Ralf Hackbarth, who specializes in the enforcement of trademark and design rights, heads the practice together with Wolfgang Straub, who often acts for energy supply companies and local utilities. Banks and insurance companies also rely on the team.

Ranking Patent Law - Tier 3

KLAKA Rechtsanwälte handles its client volume consisting of infringement and nullity proceedings from its offices in Munich and Düsseldorf. The office has seen growth in the mobile and automotive sectors in particular, but the volume of mandates has also increased in the life sciences. Headed by the highly experienced Olaf Giebe in Düsseldorf, the IP boutique offers highly specialized expertise in standard-essential patents, many years of experience in license agreement negotiations and technical versatility, as well as a client relationship closely supervised by the partner and comprehensive knowledge of the most important German patent infringement courts.

Patent Law: Leading names
Olaf Giebe - KLAKA Rechtsanwälte

Patent Law: References

"Klaka is a renowned German patent litigation firm with offices in Munich and Düsseldorf. The highly specialized team represents a number of well-known rights owners in enforcing their patents as well as a number of technology users in defending themselves against excessive licensing demands often made by patent exploiters. We have particular expertise in the area of standard-essential patents and in antitrust compulsory license defense (FRAND), which plays a significant role in many proceedings in the telecommunications sector."

"Olaf Giebe and Constantin Kurtz are particularly specialized in patent litigation in the field of electronics/telecommunications. A particular strength of the two attorneys is their ability to identify the essential aspects of highly complex patent litigation, to develop a tailored strategy for further proceedings, and to correctly place the decisive arguments both in pleadings and in oral proceedings."

"Manageable but very effective and experienced office with very personal contact to the client. Attorneys accessible at all times with very high competence and commitment."

"Olaf Giebe: Extremely experienced, can get to grips with complex issues very quickly, very good negotiation strategy. Excellent support."

"Stefan Eck: Very experienced, very committed."

"Klaka's attorneys have the ability to go deep into any technical matter in patent infringement cases."

"Constantin Kurtz gets to the bottom of every case and does not let up until he understands every detail and puts it into the overall context of the case."