Gulde & Partner

What Gulde & Partner does

Gulde & Partner, formally GULDE & Partner Patent- und Rechtsanwaltskanzlei mbB, is a German-partnership law firm founded in 1990 and headquartered in Berlin, specializing exclusively in intellectual property law. Its practice spans the full IP lifecycle across patents, trademarks, designs, and copyrights, with adjacent practices in unfair competition law, licensing, software and IT law, and IP litigation. Technical specializations extend across 16 domains including mechanical engineering, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, automotive, electrical engineering, telecommunications, semiconductors, nanotechnology, and crystal growing — a breadth that allows the firm to file and litigate across heterogeneous industries.

The firm operates seven offices across Germany (Berlin, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich) and Asia (Beijing, Yokohama), with locations specifically chosen for proximity to the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA), European Patent Office (EPO), and local chambers of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). It runs a multilingual digital presence in five languages (German, English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean) and publishes quarterly newsletters on IP law developments. An international team of approximately 80 professionals — patent attorneys, attorneys at law, patent engineers, consultants, and eight partners — serves a horizontally segmented client base ranging from individual inventors to multinational corporations.

Gulde & Partner earns revenue through hourly and matter-based professional fees for IP prosecution, registration, portfolio management, licensing support, and litigation representation. The go-to-market is sales-led and direct: engagements are secured through attorney-led relationships and referrals, with no intermediary distribution. Recent strategic activity has been predominantly expansionary — three new German offices in 2023-2025, the 2024 acquisition of Jungblut & Seuss, the 2024 establishment of a new headquarters, and ongoing partner promotions — indicating a firm in active scaling mode rather than focused on margin optimization.

Name

Gulde & Partner

Legal name

GULDE & Partner Patent- und Rechtsanwaltskanzlei mbB

Website

https://gulde.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Gulde & Partner is a Berlin-headquartered German IP law firm (founded 1990) with ~80 professionals across seven offices in Germany, China, and Japan, providing patent, trademark, design, copyright, and licensing services plus IP litigation to clients ranging from individual inventors to multinational corporations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Law Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Patent Prosecution & Portfolio Management (BPAHAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate & Commercial Law (BPAHAAAA), Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services (BPAHALAG)

Keywords

• Intellectual property law
• Patent prosecution
• Trademark registration
• IP litigation
• Design protection

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Professional Fees: Professional legal services billed to clients for IP prosecution and litigation matters. Services include patent applications, trademark registrations, design protections, copyright advice, licensing agreements, unfair competition law, software and IT law, and litigation representation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Gulde & Partner is a leading European IP law firm providing comprehensive intellectual property legal services including patent, trademark, design, and copyright law. The firm offers both IP prosecution (filings and registrations) and IP litigation (enforcement and defense) services, alongside related areas such as unfair competition law, licensing agreements, and software and IT law, supported by technical expertise across 16 industrial sectors.

Product overview

Gulde & Partner is a leading intellectual property law firm in Europe offering comprehensive IP legal services. The firm provides a unified portfolio of core legal services including patent law, trademark law, copyright, design law, unfair competition law, licensing law, software and IT law, and IP litigation. These services are supported by expertise across 16 technical areas including mechanical engineering, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, automotive, electrical engineering, telecommunications, software and IT, semiconductors, nanotechnology, and crystal growing. The firm operates from offices in Berlin (headquarters), Dresden, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich, Beijing, and Yokohama.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Patent Law Services (Patentrecht) Comprehensive patent protection services including patent applications, prosecution, litigation, and employee invention law compliance for inventors, research institutions, and corporate clients.
• Trademark Law Services (Markenrecht) Trademark registration, monitoring, enforcement, and protection of commercial designations, brand names, and domain rights for brand-owning companies.
• Copyright Services (Urheberrecht) Protection and enforcement of creative works, content, software, and related rights under copyright law for authors, publishers, and rights holders.
• Design Law Services (Designrecht) Registration and protection of industrial designs and models under design law (Geschmacksmusterrecht) for manufacturers and product designers.
• Unfair Competition Law Services (Wettbewerbsrecht) Legal counsel on competition law, anti-competitive agreements, abuse of market dominance, and unfair business practices for commercial entities.
• Licensing Law Services (Lizenzrecht) Drafting and negotiation of license agreements for patents, trademarks, designs, software, and technology transfer between rights holders and licensees.
• Software and IT Law Services Legal services covering software licensing, IT contracts, data protection, and internet law matters for technology companies and software vendors.
• IP Litigation Services (Rechtsstreitigkeiten) Legal representation in intellectual property disputes, injunctions, and enforcement proceedings before the DPMA, EPO, UPC, and regional courts.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hoffmann Eitle: One of Europe's largest patent attorney firms, headquartered in Munich with strong prosecution and litigation capabilities near the EPO and DPMA — the same regulatory moat Gulde leverages. Both serve global corporates with multilingual patent teams across technical specialties.
• Vossius & Partner: Munich IP boutique specializing in patent litigation and opposition work before the EPO and German courts. Comparable in size and in prosecution-plus-litigation positioning to Gulde.
• Wuesthoff & Wuesthoff: Boutique German IP firm comparable in size to Gulde, with patent prosecution and litigation across technical fields. Competes for similar mid-sized European patent mandates.
• Grünecker Patent- und Rechtsanwälte: Munich-based IP boutique with comparable patent prosecution, trademark, and litigation offerings; long-standing competitor for EPO and UPC work, targeting similar multinational technology clients.
• Kroher Strobel & Partner: Mid-sized German IP and trademark boutique headquartered in Munich. Comparable in offering patent and trademark prosecution with similar proximity advantages to the EPO and DPMA.
• Meissner Bolte: German patent law firm with offices in Munich, Nuremberg, and other cities, focused on patent prosecution and litigation. Direct competitor in the same regional and technical patent markets as Gulde.
• Schweiger & Partners: Mid-sized Munich-based patent attorney firm covering prosecution and litigation across mechanical engineering, electronics, and software — directly comparable to Gulde's technical area spread.

Broad incumbents

• Freshfields (Germany): Major international firm with German offices active in patent litigation and IP transactions, particularly at the UPC. Competes with Gulde for high-stakes cross-border mandates while serving a much broader corporate base.
• Bird & Bird (Germany): International full-service firm with a strong IP and technology practice in Düsseldorf, Munich, and Hamburg. Overlaps with Gulde in patent litigation, software/IT law, and IP portfolio strategy but operates a much broader corporate practice.
• Covington & Burling (Germany): Global law firm with a prominent IP litigation practice in Munich focused on UPC and EPO matters — a larger-scale competitor for the cross-border patent disputes Gulde targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gulde & Partner