ENGLISH
GERMANIntellectual Property Litigation in the United States for German Businesses
By – Christopher J. Menke, Shareholder – Urban Thier Federer & Chinnery, P.A.
The perceived expense and uncertainty of litigation in the United States deters some German businesses from enforcing their intellectual property rights or vigorously defending against infringement actions. For German entities, German courts provide a more structured and familiar process for intellectual property litigation, than in the United States. Foreign to many German owners of U.S. intellectual property is the U.S. discovery process, claim construction, and various pre-trial hearings. These German intellectual property owners have invested valuable resources in obtaining U.S. intellectual property rights and marketing, distributing and selling German-designed products in the U.S. To recoup that investment and protect intellectual property rights, litigation in the United States may be necessary and can be undertaken with limited financial and legal uncertainty.
The intellectual property litigators and paralegals at Urban Thier Federer & Chinnery, P.A. speak fluent German and guide German litigants through the American jurisprudence system. We provide German businesses a sensible means of enforcing their rights and defending their interests. Using a hybrid fee structure in combination with product-based flat fee options, we provide German businesses with cost projections for patent and trademark enforcement litigation. For those German businesses engaged in commerce in the U.S. that are sued for patent or trademark infringement, our German-American litigators provide cost structures for defending against such actions, rather than conceding the market and withdrawing lucrative exports.
In 2010 German businesses exported over $76.7 billion of goods to the United States. Exports to the United States accounted for approximately 7 percent of Germany’s $1.124 trillion of exported goods. These goods include chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products, and various manufactured goods. Many of these exports are protected by U.S. patents and trademarks. Records at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show over 240,000 U.S. patents assigned to German business entities and an additional 64,000 unassigned, U.S. patents issued to German inventors. Further evidence of Germany’s impact on the American market is over 64,000 U.S. trademarks registered to German businesses.
Over the past few years, Florida has become a hotspot for high tech and medical companies. Many of these companies are headquartered in Tampa, Orlando or Jacksonville and have manufacturing facilities throughout the United States. It follows that such cutting edge companies actively patent and manufacture competitive products. Because of this recent industry boom in Florida, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida has become accustomed to adjudicating patent and trademark litigation cases. Located in the heart of the Middle District of Florida, the Orlando office of Urban Thier Federer & Chinnery, P.A. is positioned to represent German businesses in Florida and throughout the United States. Limited travel to the U.S. for trial preparation may be necessary, but where in-person matters are required, German residents can meet with us in our Munich office for face-to-face consultations.
For intellectual property litigation, our German American Lawyers are ideally situated for representing your German business in the United States. Our hybrid fee schedules or flat fee options provide litigants with greater financial certainty in the American legal system. Our offices in Orlando and Munich are staffed with German and English speaking attorneys and paralegals to represent your business interests.
Filed under the Intellectual Property Law category.
