Dr. Thomas J. Farkas, LL.M.

Principal Associate

Rechtsanwalt

Languages

German, English

Practice areas

• Commercial agreements
• Competition, EU and Trade
• Consumer
• Franchising and distribution arrangements
• Industrials
• Intellectual property
• Licensing
• Retail
• Technology, Media and Telecoms

Practice notes

Thomas is a Principal Associate in the Commercial practice group at Eversheds Sutherland in Hamburg. He specializes in intellectual property and related commercial aspects. Thomas has many years of experience in contentious and non-contentious matters focusing in:

• Trademark, design, copyright and unfair competition law
• Trade secrets and know-how
• Regulatory law (e.g. product and textile labelling)
• Drafting and negotiating all types of intellectual property agreements (license-, franchise-, sponsoring and advertising agreements, app-development agreements, co-existence agreements, etc.)

Thomas is recommended by the JUVE Handbook 2021 for trademark and design law. He has been praised as "Star Lawyer 2020" by Acritas and as recommended lawyer for IP in 2020 by Legal 500.

His clients praise him as “very skilled and passionate IP lawyer who fights for his clients, offers pragmatic and creative solutions” (General Counsel of a global listed company).

Thomas' recent experience includes:

• Advising an international fashion house with respect to several global marketing campaigns (e.g. with respect to influencer marketing in 8 jurisdictions)
• Representing an international sporting goods company before German courts related to sponsoring and licensing agreements with international football stars
• Advising a manufacturer of consumer goods on the purchase of worldwide trademark and design portfolios
• Defending the trademark portfolios of an international food company before the European Courts
• Defending the trademark and design rights of an international luxury goods brand against infringers before the German courts
• Advising a company from the entertainment industry regarding the launch of new mobile apps in Europe and the USA
• Advising an international consumer goods company concerning event advertising in 17 jurisdictions
• Defending the trademark portfolios of an international food company before the European Courts

Before joining Eversheds Sutherland, Thomas experience includes working in the IP team of another international leading law firm and as an in-house IP counsel for a global player in the fashion industry.

Since 2012, Thomas is a Visiting Industry Senior Lecturer at the Queen Mary University of London focussing on current topics in IP law. The WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) regularly invites Thomas as a lecturer for WIPO events, particularly concerning the interface of fashion and sports marketing and IP. Thomas regularly publishes articles on IP-relevant topics.

Thomas studied law at the Humboldt University of Berlin and earned his LL.M. degree in IP Law at the Queen Mary University of London. For his doctoral thesis, Thomas was a research fellow at the Institute of Intellectual Property in Tokyo, Japan and a scholarship holder at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition focussing on the protection of ideas and designs.