Chamber Global IP (2024)
GEISTWERT is a well-known law firm offering an excellent IP practice comprising patent and trade mark-related advice, including portfolio management and licensing. The law firm boasts particular prowess in contentious trade mark matters, excelling in infringement, opposition and cancellation proceedings. The team attracts clients from various industries, including gaming, automotive, food and drink and technology.
“The team is highly specialised and has deep knowledge.”
“The lawyers offer quick responses, a solution-oriented approach and information in a language that is understandable for non-lawyers.”
“The GEISTWERT team has a good understanding of complex issues and is strategically minded.”
“The lawyers are super quick, easy to understand and anticipate follow-up questions.”
“GEISTWERT provides a good assessment of the situation and is business-fluent and goal-oriented.”
Constantin Kletzer boasts a strong IP practice. He represents clients in trade mark disputes and further advises clients on non-contentious trade mark matters. He also assists with copyright issues, domain law and licence agreements. “It is a pleasure working with Constantin Kletzer. He is very pragmatic and solution-oriented.” “The response time is fast and at the same time he is competent, solution-oriented and aligned with the economic interest of the company. We are pleased to have Constantin Kletzer on board and do not want to do without him.” “Constantin Kletzer shows prudence, pragmatism and a goal-oriented approach.” “He is very smart, always available and commercially minded.” “Constantin Kletzer has a very hands-on approach but can also work with the appropriate depth when necessary.”
Alexander Schnider boasts strong experience in IP mandates across the gaming, automotive and telecoms sectors. He advises clients on trade mark, licensing, patent and unfair competition mandates, as well as copyright issues. “He is easy, straightforward and his expertise is up to date.” “Alexander Schnider is very efficient and competent, always paying attention to detail and looking at a matter from all possible perspectives.” “He is a very good trade mark lawyer.” “Alexander Schnider is super responsive, super fast and has good turnaround times. He helps us from a business perspective and has so much experience with bigger businesses that he can tell us what might not be a good deal.” “He guided us through the case very well, was always available for our worries and concerns and also summarised the judgments well in clear language.”
Max Mosing regularly handles a broad spectrum of IP mandates from licence agreements and rebranding to copyright and trade mark infringement and cancellation proceedings. He is particularly visible in the media, automotive and beverages sectors. “Max Mosing is very open to innovation and provides very good strategies.” “Max Mosing is very precise and very much to the point. In terms of advice, he is very reliable.” “The cool composure with which Max Mosing handles complex matters and navigates difficult situations does not cease to astonish me.” “He is very down to earth and provides good-quality work.”
Rainer Schultes regularly advises clients from the automotive, pharmaceutical and technology sectors on a variety of IP mandates, including trade mark, patent and unfair competition claims. He additionally assists with international domain disputes. “Rainer Schultes is a strong performer.” “He is very strong in patent litigation and unfair competition cases.”
Italian and Austrian-qualified Juliane Messner is well placed to assist with IP mandates involving both jurisdictions. She advises prominent clients on trade mark questions, including complex infringement and opposition proceedings. Her practice also encompasses licensing agreements and portfolio management. “She can get into the nitty-gritty of all the different types of companies and she understands them well.”
Juliane Messner also is the only Austrian lawyer who was ranked as Foreign Expert for Intellectual Property in Italy (https://chambers.com/legal-rankings/intellectual-property-foreign-expertise-austria-2:34:24:5).
WTR 1000 (2024)
“GEISTWERT’s service is always of excellent quality. All five partners not only have extremely deep knowledge of the specific fields they practice in but are also hands on and collaborative in a way that only benefits the client.” Alexander Schnider has a real entrepreneurial spirit and provides complete protection to gaming and media patrons. Alongside Rainer Schultes and Max Mosing, he has been advising Novomatic on all Austrian and EUIPO trademark matters. Schultes frequently emerges victorious from many skirmishes, while complex transactional instructions are bread and butter to Mosing. He works closely with Juliane Messner, and the duo receive warm plaudits from patrons: “Juliane and Max tailor their advice to the specific recommendations of our company and, due to their expertise, implement solutions that are highly customised and above all pragmatic. They always do an exceptional job and, on top of that, they are a pleasure to work with.” “When it comes to complex trademark litigation, Constantin Kletzer is the go-to attorney in Austria. He is a bright and deeply experienced lawyer with a keen sense for strategic solutions.”
MIP IP Stars Firm Rankings 2023
As a firm, GEISTWERT received the following MIP IP Stars Firm Rankings 2023:
Patent disputes: Tier 1
Trade mark disputes: Tier 1
Copyright & related rights: Highly Recommended (only “highly recommended” and “recommended” available)
Trade mark prosecution: Tier 2
iam Patent 1000 (2023)
“Max has a superb knowledge of the law and how to apply it practically”, while “Juliane perfectly combines the world of IP law with transactions law – a unique talent, especially in international projects”.
iam Patent 1000 (2023)
The talent does not stop there though, with Alexander Schnider, Constantin Kletzer, Max Mosing and Juliane Messner all bringing their expertise to the mix. “It’s impressive how seamlessly the GEISTWERT partners work together. They truly act as a team and, most remarkably, they always select the best person for the job, ensuring their clients receive a personal and tailored service.” Of late, Schultes, Schnider and Kletzer represented TeleTan in an infringement claim against the bank Six Payment Systems for using TeleTan’s patented authentication system on their online payment authorisation platform.
iam Patent 1000 (2023)
“The IP community in Austria is a small but impressive one and GEISTWERT stands out among the top-tier firms. Its team of outstanding patent litigators across all technical domains are the go-to for strategic IP advice, patent litigation and transactional support. The overall experience of working with them is phenomenal.”
JUVE Patent Litigation 2023
This Viennese boutique has established itself as an authoritative IP outfit, particularly in litigation. It has long been a market leader in soft IP. In patent law, the practice led by Constantin Kletzer and Rainer Schultes has become the most persistent challenger to the market-leading firm Gassauer-Fleissner, thanks to its enormous presence in patent litigation. The fact that competitor Schwarz Schönherr, which had been weakened following a partner departure, was unable to keep pace with Geistwert was a further contributing factor. Like Gassauer-Fleissner, Geistwert is also one of the best-known Austrian patent litigation firms internationally. If Austrian issues arise at the UPC, both firms can depend upon being the first point of contact for litigation here, especially if IP teams without a local presence require cooperation partners.
Nevertheless, this is by no means a foregone conclusion and Geistwert would be wise to seek close cooperation with IP law firms in Europe. […] However, the team’s work in its most prominent case for Tele Tan against Mastercard concerning authentication procedures in online banking proves that the partners can handle international cases on the plaintiff side.
The firm’s trademark and unfair competition lawyers are often involved in cases for international clients, such as a German carmaker or a pharmaceutical company. Their best-known IP client with international reach is probably the Austrian beverage manufacturer Red Bull. The firm represents the company in IP litigation, as well as copyright, media and data protection law. IP advice goes hand in hand with IT and data protection advice due to the many international social media groups and streaming providers as clients.
The firm owes its success not only to its consistent focus on IP and IT law issues, but also to its partner-centric approach. The new challenges posed by the UPC will show whether this concept is sustainable in the long term or will slow down the dynamic development.
Strengths
Consistent focus on IP issues with partner-centric approach; infringement litigation concerning pharma patents.
Recommended individuals
Constantin Kletzer (“excellent litigator who has seen it all”, competitor), Rainer Schultes (“well versed in patent litigation, especially pharma patents”, “the firm is a powerhouse in Austrian IP and Schultes is at the forefront”, competitors)
LEGAL 500 Data Privacy And Data Protection (2023)
Juliane Messner and Max Mosing are clear experts in their field, understanding the legal, commercial and technical dimension of a client’s needs and stand out for their knowledge of current legal developments and state of the art technology.’
LEGAL 500 Data Privacy And Data Protection (2023)
GEISTWERT
Described as having adopted a ‘collegial partner-only approach‘ GEISTWERT team is comprises five partners, namely Juliane Messner, Max Mosing, Alexander Schnider, Rainer Schultes, and Constantin Kletzer, who solely handle all matters at partner level. Sector wise, their work relates to the energy, environment, infrastructure and waste management areas. The group offers a full service for not only data protection and data privacy, but also for TMT generally, with strong focus on online business.
The law firm’s partner-only approach is a distinctive feature, ensuring vast experience with many of the client’s topics. Pleasantly informal, the firm understands the needs of its clients well and aims at delivering tailor-made solutions.’
‘Due to their collegial partner-only approach, both our lawyers appear simultaneously both in emails and calls, which makes a clear distinction between them difficult.’
Legal 500 IP (2023)
‘Max Mosing – he isn’t just a lawyer, but also understands the aspects beyond the legal stuff. It is tremendously helpful in negotiations.‘’
Legal 500 IP (2023)
GEISTWERT‘s five-strong team comprising Constantin Kletzer, Juliane Messner, Max Mosing, Alexander Schnider and Rainer Schultes offers comprehensive IP services. On the contentious side, this includes representing clients in patent, trade mark and copyright matters before the Austrian and European courts and IP offices. The team is well versed in handling commercial IP matters, advising a number of household names on the management of their global IP portfolios and performing due diligence prior to corporate transactions or investments. Clients from sectors as diverse as the gaming, entertainment, and food and beverage industries routinely instruct the practice on complex IP issues.
‘The GEISTWERT team is without any doubt the creme de la creme of IP in Austria: landmark cases, outstanding clients, including many state-owned and world leading companies from Austria, and they still take care of start-ups and smaller companies. Their teamwork is great and you can see that they really do have fun doing their job and going the extra mile.’
LEGAL 500 TMT (2023)
GEISTWERT is a specialist TMT, IP and IT boutique, assisting clients with the gamut of issues, and particularly proficient in advising on compliance with EU directives. Constantin Kletzer, Juliane Messner (admitted in Austria and Italy), Max Mosing, Alexander Schnider and Rainer Schultes lead the team, and advise video game developers, streaming and entertainment services and car manufacturers on the drafting of development contracts, IT outsourcing, online stores, gambling regulations, and, increasingly, NFTs. The team is also experienced in handling IP issues, often being instructed to handle patent and copyright matters.
‘Excellent technical and client service skills, innovative, flexible, pragmatic and reasonable on pricing, have embraced diversity from the very start, definitely my go-to place on any occasion.’
‘Alexander Schnider: very experienced on tech agreements, outsourcing and regulatory issues. Max Mosing: leader in the market on privacy matters. Juliane Messner: very helpful in disputes.’
‘The team pairs legal expertise with a hands-on approach, leaving unnecessary formalities aside and immediately focusing on the relevant parts. Furthermore, they can be reached quickly, have extremely fast response times and give clear advice on complex questions.’
iam Patent (2023)
“A highly skilled professional and a familiar face before the EUIPO and the Austrian PTO, Max’s pragmatism and dependability produce exceptional results.”
iam Patent (2023)
“A premier patent litigation firm, GEISTWERT is led by five highly experienced and entrepreneurial partners and a client-oriented team set on achieving their clients’ business goals. Their collaboration is exceptional, both in terms of content and results, and they are always focused and driven in their approach.” The stellar group recently represented TeleTan, the holder of a core patent of authentication processes in online banking, in an infringement claim.
Chambers Europe TMT (2023)
Max Mosing advises clients from the entertainment and tech sectors on a range of IT matters, including development contracts, data protection and questions surrounding NFTs. He further assists with the launch of video gaming platforms and provides regulatory support for tech companies.