125 years of excellence in IP law

Protecting intellectual property has always been key and is becoming ever more essential for many reasons – as is shown by the increase in the numbers of patent and trade­mark appli­ca­tions which are filed in Europe. Innova­tions and their protection secure a company’s future and are often the most impor­tant assets of all. HOFFMANN EITLE meets this demand with the right combi­na­tion of skills and the highest level of commit­ment. Our experience and dedication makes us a strong and reliable partner for many clients world­wide for protecting ideas and effectively enforcing and defending their rights. With about 400 employees at six offices in Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain, our firm is one of the largest and most successful in the field of intel­lec­tual property in Europe. Each year we file more than 4,000 new patent appli­ca­tions for our clients. Our inter­na­tional teams include members from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Denmark, Turkey, Japan and China. Working with a worldwide network of selected patent law firms, we diligently take care of your portfolio around the globe. One of our strengths is the inter­dis­ci­pli­nary cooper­a­tion among our patent attor­neys working in the fields of chemistry, biotech­nology, mechan­ical engineering and electrical engineering & IT, as well as our German attor­neys-at-law specializing in the areas of patent litiga­tion, trade­mark & design protection, licensing and competition law.

Working on the inter­face between research, technology, economics and law, we forcefully prosecute, enforce and defend your IP rights and vigorously defend your company and its products in IP disputes in an ever increasingly dynamic global environ­ment. HOFFMANN EITLE’s high level of compe­tence and commit­ment to quality is illus­trated also by the many industry awards we have been winning, and the consis­tently favourable rankings of our prosecution and litigation practice in the various key industry guide­books. For example, HOFFMANN EITLE is listed in the top tier for patent prose­cu­tion in Germany and/​or the EPO in Chambers, Legal 500, MIP IP Stars and the IAM Patent 1000 publi­ca­tions. Many of our attor­neys are also specif­i­cally recom­mended in these guides, whose listings are based on their own research and inter­views.

HOFFMANN EITLE’s strengths are reflected in the array of skills of our patent attorneys and German attorneys-at-law. The scientific background of our patent attorneys covers virtually every commercially relevant technical area. In addition, our attorneys-at-law are highly specialised professionals covering all legal facets of intellectual property law. This allows us to meet the demands of the most varied types of cases in individual ways. Depending on the type and complexity of a case, it will be handled by a patent attorney or a German attorney-at-law or by a cross-disciplinary team of attorneys composed to provide you with the best service.

The firm began with the engineer Emil Hoffmann, who in 1892 opened his very own “Patent and Technical Bureau” in Berlin and, following enactment of the first legislation on German patent attorneys in 1900, became one of the first patent attorneys in Germany. Through a colleague in New York, Emil Hoffmann was already building up professional connections in the United States, laying the foundation for the firm’s current international orientation.
In 1925, after completing his chemistry studies, Emil Hoffmann’s son Erich joined the firm as a partner, and father and son worked together until Emil’s death in 1944. That same year the family had to deal with another blow, when the office, which was near the German Reichspatentamt, was completely destroyed in an Allied air raid. The entire inventory and all the files were lost.
Just before the Soviet army marched into Berlin, Erich Hoffmann fled with his family to Munich. There he rebuilt the firm after the war, establishing the headquarters of what would become HOFFMANN EITLE.
In 1954, engineer Werner Eitle began his training as a patent attorney in those offices, and in 1960 became a partner of Erich Hoffmann. The third partner, joining the firm five years later, was Erich Hoffmann’s son Klaus.
The office and the professional partnership continued to grow. Unlike some other firms, HOFFMANN EITLE’s growth has been organic in the sense that we have never been involved in mergers or acquisitions. The vast majority of the present partners have been with the firm for their entire professional career.
Today, the office is in the Arabeska, a modern office building in Munich’s Bogenhausen district. With approximately 400 employees at six locations across Germany and Europe, the firm is one of the largest and most successful intellectual property specialist boutique firms, and each year it files more than 4,000 patent applications. About 80 German, British, Dutch, Belgian, Italian, Spanish, French and European patent attorneys, 14 IP-specialized attorneys-at-law and a large number of trainee patent attorneys serve our international clients in small, medium-sized and global enterprises.