Dr. Markus Müller

Attorney at Law
Adjunct Professor at the
Hochschule Fresenius
University of Applied Sciences

mueller@ipmunich.de

Curriculum vitae

Dr. Markus Müller (admitted as a lawyer since 1995) studied law at the University of Munich. After his studies, he became a Member of the Max Planck Institute for International and Foreign Patent-, Copyright-, and Unfair Competition Law and received his doctor’s degree in law.

He has extensive knowledge and experience in clearing, establishing and protecting worldwide trademarks and has represented clients in many proceedings in the field of trademark and patent infringement in court proceedings and has represented clients in numerous opposition proceedings before German and European trademark authorities (e.g. General Court, judgement of 29.09.2011 – T-150/10 – LOOP ./. Loopia; General Court, judgement of 10.02.2010 – T-344/07 – related to the registrability of the trademark HOMEZONE; judgement of the High Court of Munich dated 14.04.2016 related to the cancellation of the trademark ROCK (6 U 4875/13): Judgement of the High Court of Munich dated 18.06.2008 (6 U 2722/08) – SIEMSSEN; decision of the Federal Patent Court of 15.02.2006 (29 W (pat) 341/00) related to the bad-faith application E2 – see comment in GRUR 2006, 1032); judgement of the District Court Munich I dated 07.11.2013 (7 O 15712/11) in a patent infringement matter related to a mobile telecommunications patent; judgement of the High Court of Nürnberg dated 23.10.2012 (3 U 853/13) in a patent infringement matter related to patent for a waste incineration grate; decision of the Federal Patent Court of 14.06.2016 (35 W (pat) 416/13) related to cancellation proceedings of a utility model in the field of biopharmaceuticals.

Markus has been selected as one of the leading practitioners in the trademark field in Germany in the international lawyer’s directory Who’s Who Legal: Germany 2022.

Languages

German, English, French and some Spanish

Specialist Fields

  • Trademark prosecution (counseling, clearing, filing, maintenance), representation in opposition procedures
  • Industrial design prosecution (counseling, clearing, filing, maintenance
  • Trademark portfolio management
  • Litigation matters in all fields of Intellectual Property rights, in particular trademarks and tradenames, patents, utility models, Domain names
  • Unfair competition Law and anti-counterfeiting
  • Intellectual property due diligence with regard to trademarks, tradenames and designs
  • Contractual work, especially in licensing in all fields of Intellectual Property law

Private Life

In his private life Markus has a varied spectrum of interests: he enjoys reading non-fiction books, loves Mediterranean food and wines and studies Italian and French language. He relaxes when playing the guitar (he loves Marshall Amps and Fender and Gibson electric guitars)  and when listening to good rock music.


Curriculum vitae

  • 2004
    Founding partner of MÜLLER FOTTNER STEINECKE
  • 2000
    Partner of Knauthe Eggers law firm and establishment of the Munich office of Knauthe Eggers
  • 1995–1999
    Practice in the field of Intellectual Property law as a Rechtsanwalt (Attorney at Law) with a large Intellectual Property firm near Munich in trademark law, copyright law, unfair competition law, licensing, and patent litigation matters
  • 1993–1995
    Trainee lawyer with the District Court of Munich, the Department of Public Prosecution, the European Patent Office and a law firm
  • 1991–1992
    Member of scientific staff of Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law in Munich; studies in the field of US-copyright law and US-trademark law; doctoral thesis on the subject: “Tradename licenses and names of companies and affiliated companies” (Firmenlizenz und Konzernfirma)” with Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Gerhard Schricker, Head of Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law
  • 1985–1990
    Studies of law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich with emphasis on unfair competition law, copyright law and patent law

Publications

  • “Firmenlizenz und Konzernfirma” (“Tradename licenses and names of companies and affiliated companies”) (1996), Carl Heymanns Verlag, Volume 98, by Markus Müller
  • “Markenrechtliche Haftung bei Bannerwerbung im Internet” (“Liability for advertising banners on the Internet under tradenmark aspects”) by Markus Müller
  • “Marken anmelden – eine Guideline – Nichts ist unmöglich” (“Filing trademark applications – a guideline – Nothing is impossible”) by Alexandra Fottner and Markus Müller