Dr. Frederik Thiering

I am a partner in our Hamburg office and specialised in trade mark law. My particular focus is on strategic advice and litigation.

I advise and represent companies in all areas of intellectual property and unfair competition law. I am specialised in trade mark law with a particular focus on strategic advice and litigation.

In addition, my practice covers all other facets of trade mark and unfair competition law. For example, I support companies in the introduction of new brands and their protection against attacks by third parties, advise on portfolio management, negotiate prior rights, delimitation and licence agreements on their behalf and represent them in registration, opposition and cancellation proceedings before the German and European trade mark offices and courts, including the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

In 2010, I received my doctor's degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, where I was awarded the faculty prize for my doctoral thesis 'Reliance upon earlier third-party trade marks'.

I am co-author of the Ströbele/Hacker/Thiering, a leading commentary on the German Trade Marks Act, where I have, among other things, written the chapters on the limitations of trade mark rights, the consequences of trade mark infringements, cancellation and infringement proceedings before the ordinary courts and customs seizures. Besides, I have published numerous articles in legal journals, in particular on the judicial practice of the CJEU and the BGH in trade mark law. I also used to be a lecturer for Intellectual Property at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) and have held lectures at expert conferences.

I am a member of the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property and Copyright Law (GRUR).

• Advising and representing a leading global automotive manufacturer in numerous court proceedings on the enforcement of its core brands, including in a precedent case concerning the scope of protection of famous trade marks up to the German Federal Supreme Court
• Long-term management of the worldwide brand portfolio of a leading European publishing house
• Advising and assisting an international telecommunications provider in the change of its name
• Representing a start-up company as the plaintiff against a global player in several trade mark infringement proceedings, including in complex proceedings about the calculation of damages
• Representing a leading global manufacturer of consumer goods in a high-profile lawsuit up to the German Federal Supreme Court against attacks by a consumer protection association because of allegedly health-damaging effects of one of its food products
• Representation of one of the world's leading manufacturers of consumer goods in a precedent case concerning the use of so-called clean labels for food products