2. By operation of law, aesthetic models may be protected by copyright without an application.

In view of the jurisprudence of the courts, which is not always consistent, with regard to "concept of work" and/or the "individuality/level of originality" a certain risk remains as to whether the actual aesthetic model really fulfills the requirements of copyright protection. In this and in other cases, it may be reasonable to apply for design protection with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt, DPMA) and/or for protection as a community design with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and internationally via the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or our foreign communicating attorneys.

3. The greatest economic value of a company is usually their company symbols and trademarks.

This is also due to the fact that the trademark is the only property right that can be renewed again and again (every 10 years). Before you decide on the application for a trademark – whether as a German trade mark and/or an EU trade mark, international mark or foreign national mark – there are important issues that need to be considered and verified. The designation should not be too descriptive for the relevant products – even though from a marketing perspective, this would be most welcome. In this case, the designation will be rejected for entry in the register of trademarks due to the existence of absolute grounds for refusal. Also, whether or not prior rights exist needs to be verified, as they can be used as a basis to attack the trademark in opposition or revocation proceedings. Once the trademark is registered, it is sensible to have the subsequent trademark registrations monitored and, where necessary, to file oppositions in order to counter any weakening of the distinctiveness.

4. In some constellations, intellectual property rights simply do not take hold, whatever the reasons.

However, this does not mean that it is impossible to defend against unfair imitation. In this case, the ancillary copyrights protected under competitive law in accordance with section 4(3) of the Unfair Competition Act (Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, UWG) may be a remedy, provided the conditions under which claims can be raised are met. The Act on the Protection of Trade Secrets (Gesetz zum Schutz von Geschäftsgeheimnissen, GeschGehG) may also be of help if the protection of know-how is topical.