Intellectual property rights (IPR)

Poul Schmith is one of Denmark’s largest and leading full-service law firms, and our counseling is based on integrity and an innovative mindset. Our IPR team consists of highly skilled attorneys specializing in the different areas of intellectual property rights (IPR).

Typically, IPR protects:

• Trademark: Often, the name or logo
• Domain name: A website address
• Design: The appearance of a product
• Copyright: A literary or artistic work
• Patent: An invention

Further information regarding the different types of IPR can be found below.

In case you experience infringements of your IPR - or face infringement allegations yourself - we have experienced litigators who can assist.

In addition to advising private Danish and international clients, Poul Schmith has served as the preferred legal advisor to the Danish government since 1936. In this capacity, we have assisted authorities resolving a number of disputes regarding copyrights, patents and trademarks as well as abuse of domain names during settlement negotiations and litigation, including as attorney for the Danish Board of Appeal for Patents and Trademarks (Ankenævnet for Patenter og Varemærker).

By choosing Poul Schmith as IPR-advisor, you choose an advisor who is curious to learn more about you and your business. It is a priority for us to understand your business as it helps us identify your IPR-related needs, including any need to protect your own IPR, but also any possible need to obtain permission to use the rights of others, whether it be trademarks, domain names, designs, copyrights, or patents.

Trademark law

A trademark is a sign used to identify the origin of your products and can thus serve to indicate quality. A trademark can be one of the most valuable assets a company holds.

For a trademark to be registrable, it should have the ability to distinguish the trademark owner’s goods or services from those of other companies. We are here to help you get it right from the start.

We advise on a trademark’s protectability and offer availability searches to ensure (to the extent possible) that the trademark is not already taken by others. Furthermore, we can assist with the filing strategy to help secure the trademark in the countries where protection is needed. Once the application is filed, we will assist if the trademark application faces issues with the relevant trademark offices or any third parties. Following registration, we will ensure maintenance of your trademark portfolio and notify you once your trademarks are up for renewal or if other maintenance steps are required.

Besides portfolio maintenance, we are also here to assist, should you encounter issues such as infringement of your own rights, or face infringement allegations by others. In such cases, we can assess the case and advise on how best to handle it as well as negotiate possible settlement agreements. If it is not possible to solve the issues amicably, we can litigate the case before the relevant committees, courts of law and arbitration tribunals.

Domain Name law

A domain name is a popular part of most companies’ portfolio of business identifiers and often a valuable asset in this portfolio, just as it can be a valuable asset for creators. Domain names can also be very important for public authorities.

Unfortunately, the importance and value of domain names means that many will experience, that their business identifiers or names are registered by others. The reason behind these registrations often seems to be that the registrants hope to sell the domain names to the owners with profit. Other reasons include that the registrants hope to freeride on the goodwill associated with the owners’ signs.  

If your business identifier is registered as a domain name by others, we can help find out if the registration infringes your rights. If this is the case, we can help find out what options exist to get the domain name transferred or deleted. In this connection, we can likewise help draft and file domain name complaints before the relevant complaint boards.

Design law

A design protects the appearance of a product. It is possible to protect a design, if the design is new and has individual character.

Our attorneys can assist in the protection of designs, and advise on a design’s registrability as well as with the drafting and filing design applications.

Once an application is filed, we will assist if the design faces issues with the relevant authorities or any third parties. Following registration, we will ensure the maintenance of your design registration and notify you once the design is up for renewal or if any other maintenance steps are required.

Besides portfolio maintenance, we are also here to assist, should you encounter issues such as infringement of your own design, or face infringement allegations by others. In such cases, we can assess the case and advise on how to best to handle it as well as negotiate possible settlement agreements. If it is not possible to solve the issues amicably, we can litigate the case before the relevant committees, courts of law and arbitration tribunals.

Copyright law

A copyright is an exclusive right to reproduce and make available a literary or artistic work. According to Danish copyright law a copyright is not recorded but granted the creator of an original work directly upon creation.

Our experts help both creators and users of copyrighted material in accordance with Danish and EU copyright law, including the EU Copyright Directive. We help creators protect and commercialize their works and assist users in achieving rights to copyrighted material on the best possible terms.

Our copyright experts have extensive experience in handling copyright infringements of all kinds as well as with the negotiation and interpretation of agreements on copyrighted material.

Patent law

A patent is an exclusive right to a new invention that solves a technical problem.

We assist inventors and others in obtaining patent protection with the aid of experienced external patent agents. We also assist with the commercialization of patent rights, e.g. through assignment and license agreements.

Furthermore, we assist licensees negotiate, draft and interpret agreements regarding their use of patent protected inventions.

We also litigate cases pertaining to the interpretation of patent agreements and alleged patent infringements, including injunction cases.

Contact us in case of doubt about IPR matters

Does your business or authority use protected material requiring an agreement? Or is the agreement already entered into difficult to understand and inadequate? Do you need to commercialise or enforce intellectual property rights?

We will help provide clarity on intellectual property rights and agreements for users and rights holders alike.