Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Johannes Zindel has an excellent reputation in his advisory and forensic work in the areas of intellectual property, unfair competition, copyright law, food law, pharmaceutical law, and procurement law. He began his legal career as an assistant at the Johannes-Gutenberg-University in Mainz. In 1980, he was named partner and subsequently headed the IP practice group at Gaedertz, at that time one of Germany's leading IP firms.

In his more than 30 years of practice, Johannes has been heavily involved with numerous actions filed under the law against unfair competition (Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb), including a number of cases that were argued before Germany's Federal High Court (Bundesgerichtshof). He has represented a wide variety of clients in protecting intellectual property rights, including Lufthansa and BMW in trademark infringements cases. He also has arrested counterfeits and represented clients who were the victims of trademark piracy and cybersquatters.

In the area of copyright law, Johannes advises publishing companies on the acquisition of title copyrights and on contracts with authors. He is the permanent authorized representative of the German Federal Association of Ballet Schools and their members in disputes with collecting societies (e.g., German Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Reproduction Rights, GEMA). Johannes advises international companies on the sale of products that are subject to duties under copyright law. With respect to movies, he has represented computer companies in legal disputes about the copyright ability of computer programs.

Johannes' practice involves all aspects of trademark law, including managing trademark portfolios; registering national, European, and international trademarks; drafting and negotiating license agreements; and developing strategies to develop distribution systems. Furthermore, he monitors third-party domain names and trademark registrations and has filed suit to enjoin trademark infringements. He has argued infringement cases before the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), and in cases of domain name disputes, before panels of approved dispute resolution service providers such as WIPO, under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

As part of his unfair competition law practice, Johannes has advised a variety of advertising agencies on innovative marketing concepts and promotions.

As an advisor in the areas of food and pharmaceutical law, he assists his clients not only with unfair competition law issues, but also with regulatory issues. For example, his food law clients include the well-known producer of baby food, Hipp, as well as Ferrero and German and international beer breweries. In the pharmaceutical industry, Johannes has advised Abbott, Roche, and Mucos Pharma. He also advised on the so-called Charta concept for the German Premium Wines Trade Association (Verband der Prädikats-Weingüter) and issued the legal opinion for the new wine classification "Erstes Gewächs."

In the field of public procurement law, Johannes provides legal services to contract awarders and contractors. He has represented clients in award review proceedings throughout Germany before procurement chambers and in appellate proceedings before Higher Regional Courts (Oberlandesgerichte). His work for contract awarders is focused on local public transport. In this regard, Johannes has represented major German cities in the awarding of contracts for transport services in local public transport. Moreover, Johannes has represented ground handling service providers in the tendering for rights of access to airports.

Johannes also has a broad spectrum of domestic and foreign clients in various industries such as trade, media, drug manufacturing, car rental and leasing, and chemicals and service providers such as IT and software firms.

Johannes is a member of the German Lawyers' Association, the German Association for Intellectual Property and Copyright Law (GRUR), the Association for the Study of Antitrust Law, and the Association for the Study of Food Law. He is coauthor of a form book for copyright law, and as a member of the advisory council for legal journals in the fields of food and pharmaceutical law, he is extensively published.

Areas of Practice

• Intellectual Property
• Copyrights & Trademarks
• Trial Practice
• Insurance Coverage
• Insurance
• Life Sciences
• Government Regulation

West Practice Categories

Bankruptcy Litigation, Business & Commercial Law, Class Actions, Complex Litigation, Copyrights, Federal Appellate Practice, Federal Claims Court, Federal Trial Practice, Food & Drug Administration, Government Agencies & Programs, Housing & Urban Development, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Intellectual Property, International Law, International Trade Litigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Litigation & Appeals, Medicare & Medicaid, Military & Veterans Appeals, Multidistrict Litigation, Patent Litigation, Patents, Social Security -- Disability, Social Security -- Retirement & Survivors Benefits, State & Local Agencies, State Appellate Practice, State Trial Practice, Tax Litigation, Technology Licensing, Trade Dress, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, US Supreme Court, Veterans' Affairs, Welfare

Bar Admissions

• Hessen, Germany
• Rhine - Palatinate, Germany

Address

Grüneburgweg 102
60323 Frankfurt am Main
60323 Frankfurt am Main 60323, Federal Republic of Germany

Phones

49.69.9726.3939 (Business Phone)

Faxes

49.69.9726.3993 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com