Research and development, technology law

The economic growth of enterprises and companies these days increasingly depends upon knowledge - knowledge that is implemented in technical advancement. For technology companies, the consistent expansion of research and development therefore forms one of the key issues contributing to their success. Knowledge-based resources not only need to be constantly extended, however, but especially also need to be solidly secured.

Co-operations contribute considerably towards the company placing its own entrepreneurial options on a broader economic basis. Setting up, formulating and being involved in projects linking partners in research and development – for example also involving private and public research institutes or universities – therefore forms a focal point within BMT’s R&D consultancy. The latter also applies to being involved in EU and national R&D funding projects.

Within the scope of technology law, we attend to securing all forms of technical know-how possessed by our clients. We are involved, for example, in the registration, protection, administration and defence of your technical intellectual property rights – whether on a national or international level. We furthermore conduct lawsuits before German and European courts, in order to defend the existing technical intellectual property rights or any other know-how that our clients possess, as well as to enforce the clients' rights vis-à-vis third parties.

Research and development

Process or product innovations that are supposed to be developed within the company or, for instance, in collaboration between scientific research and industry, have considerably better prospects of success if the processes and responsibilities are, already in advance, supposed to be secured in a professional way. BMT designs the legal frameworks to fit perfectly, including association, syndicate or any other co-operation models with the corresponding agreements. We examine anti-trust law issues (e.g. the block exemption regulation / BER) – and in addition we also attend to any aspects falling under the law on subsidies, for instance national or European business development.

When designing R&D contracts or similar licensing agreements, we develop mechanisms for optimum economic utilisation of the existing know-how and our clients’ pre-existing or newly developed intellectual property rights. We provide comprehensive advice to our clients on legal pitfalls, and indicate countermeasures.

We have already been collaborating closely with many companies and research institutes for many years, and the in-depth understanding of complex technical procedures underlying an innovation which emerges from such a co-operation is a hallmark of BMT’s consultancy work. Thus, we also regularly secure our clients’ interests in obtaining access rights to newly created results, knowledge and intellectual property rights (briefly referred to as “newly developed IPR”).

Entrepreneurs throughout the German economy appreciate our expertise in drawing up R&D co-operations and projects involving universities and organizations, and supporting such co-operations and projects in the long term.

Technology law

Advice that seeks to be inspiring in the field of technology law needs to be interdisciplinary in nature. Superior knowledge within this field of law is therefore a matter of course, and, in addition, an understanding of the procedures and technical contexts is at least as important to us. BMT takes pride in having an enthusiastic approach to R&D.

Only in this way can our competence teams respond to technical questions regarding business law with appropriate solutions. We assist our clients’ technology management in the fields of production management (focusing on legal responsibility for products, including product liability), product safety (for instance, under the German Product Safety Act, CE/GS marking), quality management (for instance, QM agreements in supplier relationships) and risk and project management, as well as environmental management. We place a particular focus on anticipatory avoidance of business and liability risks through targeted optimization of development, production and marketing processes.

We moreover attend to securing technical intellectual property rights, as well as supplementary know-how of our clients. The latter includes inter alia: preventive protection of confidential information, registering intellectual property rights as soon as possible, securing seniority and any other contractual arrangements. Know-how, innovative knowledge and results of the research and development results are often the decisive factors for the success of technology companies. BMT assists its clients in registering, efficiently protecting, administering and defending their technical intellectual property rights and their know-how. With patent rights, utility model rights and copyrights, our technology specialists attend, for example, to filing all intellectual property applications necessary, at both the national and international level. In the case of patent applications, we co-operate with the patent attorneys best suited to the respective technical sector. Technology law at BMT: sophisticated.

Patents, utility models

BMT also sets superior standards in this field. We develop, negotiate and administer licence agreements, right of use agreements and, for example, co-operation agreements. In all cases, we pursue the aim of optimally utilising and securing patents, technical experience or any other industrial property rights.

We collaborate closely with patent attorneys whom we know very well, and, on this basis, we enforce patent and utility model rights before national and EU courts, both in both regular proceedings and preliminary injunction proceedings. In addition, Büsing Müffelmann & Theye is involved in national and international patent and utility model applications on an ongoing basis - mostly in collaboration with patent attorneys.

Protecting confidential information

Ideas, inventions, concepts, plans, prototypes, manufacturing methods, software services and any other technical accomplishments form the basis for extensive corporate success. As the basis for our clients’ technical advancement, they are to be comprehensively protected from access by unauthorised parties. Non-disclosure agreements and/or confidentiality agreements, most of those backed up by a contractual penalty, with suppliers, customers and contractors, co-operation partners or employees of our clients, form part of BMT’s basic tool kit. Speak to our R&D and technology law teams. Knowledge protects knowledge.

Legal disputes and betrayal of secrets

We offer our clients precision-orientated advice – precisely also in cases where rapid response times are required. In cases of conflict, we endeavour to mediate between the parties and almost always achieve an advantageous extrajudicial solution to the matters in dispute, from our clients’ perspective. Should judicial proceedings be inevitable, despite multi-faceted endeavours, with BMT you know that you are backed up by extensive litigation experience - also in judicial proceedings with complex technical implications.

We use our knowledge to prepare the topic for the competent judges, who are usually not as knowledgeable about the technical aspects of the case, in a targeted manner. For this purpose, we structure the specialist content, indicate the contexts, and interweave the technical aspects with legal matters. In this way, an easily comprehensible basis for issuing a decision targeted in favour of our clients emerges. The costly involvement of subject experts can mostly be avoided, saving resources and time.

The betrayal of business secrets, or also industrial espionage, constitutes a field in which major disputes are arising on an increasingly regular basis. We are aware of the outstanding value of technical know-how, and proceed against such theft with the full rigour of the law - and we do that whether it is within the scope of competition law or based on employment law, if employees of the company should be involved in the incidents. Within the scope of the penal law relating to business, we also ensure effective prosecution of the perpetrator or perpetrators – in close consultation with the public prosecution service.