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At-a-glance: Industrial Property Office Antonína Cermáka 2a, 160 68 Prague, Czech Republic Tel: +420 220383111 Fax: +420 224324718 Email: posta@upv.cz Website: http://isdvapl.upv.cz/ As the Czech Republic gets to grips with intellectual property,... [more]

As the Czech Republic gets to grips with intellectual property, and both local and international companies begin to assert their rights more forcefully, western firms are beginning to take advantage of their experience to win work in the country. Bird & Bird, Baker & McKenzie and Eversheds have all set up, developed and grown IP departments over the last year.

Jiri Cermak, who heads the IP practice at Baker & McKenzie, believes it has also been due to the stability of IP work: "The big international firms saw that IP was a more robust practice area than corporate M&A. IP wasn't affected by the recession nearly as badly as other areas, so they decided to build up their respective departments here."

Companies such as Walt Disney, Apple and Google have begun operating in the country recently, whetting the appetite of many leading local litigators. One Czech partner says: "There's been a steady rise in patent litigation. Since the EU accession in 2004 there has really been a swing to greater litigation and anti-counterfeiting work."

Another trend has been the growth of stylish, young, local brands keen to take advantage of IP protection. This has created more anti-counterfeiting and infringement cases among the new group.