Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

Frankfurt Kurnit serves as the center of the wheel for U.S. clients extending their business interests across international borders. We also regularly work with clients and counsel abroad to help foreign-based entities establish and run operations in the U.S.

Our advertising and entertainment attorneys belong to international networks of corresponding attorneys, and have experience addressing the particular issues that arise in different territories, and advising on differences in applicable laws. Our commercial litigators have extensive experience resolving transnational disputes affecting insurance, energy and shipping, as well as media and entertainment and other industries. We routinely enforce foreign judgments, and represent foreign governments and other entities in U.S. cases about the enforceability of judgments against them.

OUR CLIENTS

Our Cross-Border Transactions and Global Media Clearance Group provides the highest quality legal services to clients in a wide range of industries and disciplines. We represent international brands and their marketing agencies; film, television, fashion and commercial production companies and content owners; artists and celebrities; and a variety of partnerships, joint ventures, corporations, charitable organizations, and high net worth individuals.

CLIENT BENEFITS

Structure Operations

We advise inbound clients on all operations, including employment agreements and intellectual property matters, and we assess U.S. tax considerations, including U.S. inter-company and transfer pricing rules governing transactions between foreign entities and U.S. companies.

Establish U.S. Source Financing

We advise on debt and private equity financing, and have special expertise in identifying tax-advantaged financing structures and incentives -- particularly in the film, television, and technology industries.

Structure Film and Television Finance, Production and Distribution

We help entertainment clients knit together tax-advantaged financing from sources in Germany, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, Israel and other countries. We negotiate and structure every type of talent, production, co-production, and distribution agreement. We help clients determine when and how to license music, talent, and other rights for use in global marketing communications, and we make sure licensors provide adequate indemnification and insurance.

Protect Brands

We help clients protect and maintain trademarks, and we oppose registration and seek cancellation of infringing trademarks globally. We handle trademark office actions and objections and resolve substantive and technical issues with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and foreign trademark offices. We review, draft and negotiate trademark licensing agreements for domestic and international clients, helping clients extend their brands into new markets. We litigate infringement, dilution, false advertising and other cases in federal and state courts, in the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and in foreign tribunals.

Clear and Monitor Trademarks and Other Intellectual Property

We assess the availability of domain names, designs, slogans, advertising, and packaging; and perform due diligence and chain-of-title analyses on all client intellectual property. We help clients comply with all government and industry rules and regulations, and we work with local counsel to fashion responses to inquiries from foreign regulatory bodies.

Clear and Substantiate International Advertising Campaigns

We help international brands and their agencies clear their work through broadcast networks in the U.S. and abroad. We regularly advise on sweepstakes, skill contests, giveaways, coupons, rebates, and other promotions with worldwide reach. And we work with local counsel to identify global advertising claims requiring substantiation, assemble proper substantiation evidence, and help clients draft necessary disclosures.

Handle Transnational Disputes

In addition to media and entertainment issues, we have advised on transnational disputes in the oil and gas, shipping, computer, and chemical industries. We arbitrate complex commercial disputes at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris and the Court of International Arbitration in London.

Select the Proper Legal Structure

We help clients select and structure the type of legal entity to be formed in the U.S. and identify the proper state in which to incorporate or qualify to do business. We negotiate, structure, and document small and midsize mergers and acquisitions under U.S. law.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND EVENTS

We are members of numerous international business organizations, including the International Chamber of Commerce, International Trademark Association (INTA), Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance, International Academy of Television Artists and Sciences, International Radio and Television Society, International Television Academy, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Media Law Resource Council, Branded Content Marketing Association and the Paley Center for Media. We regularly participate in international thought-leadership gatherings such as INTA conferences, Games Development Conferences in China and Europe, International Intellectual Property Association conferences, the Canadian Institute’s Annual Advertising and Marketing Law Conference, IBC, C5 and Osborne Clarke advertising law conferences in London, and Asociación Internacional para la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual (AIPPI) conferences. In addition, we represent clients annually at Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, NATPE, MIPCOM, Realscreen, and other leading film and television festivals worldwide.