Product Law
Product Law
Strategic risk management is becoming increasingly important for companies in regulated industries. In many cases, it involves a combination of conflict avoidance and conflict solving. Our Product Law team unites civil and public law expertise, litigation skills and regulatory know-how – always with client interests front of mind.
Those clients include national and international enterprises in the manufacturing, e-commerce, re-commerce and quick commerce sectors, as well as high street retailers and distributors, importers and platform operators. We advise market players in the medical products and pharmaceuticals business, the food, commodities and cosmetics industries, the textiles and consumer goods sectors, as well as digital and tech enterprises. Many of our clients already have sustainability programmes or are transforming their processes to be more sustainable. We support them in that connection. Long track records at international, large-scale law firms have given our experts the relevant know-how to deal with cross-border issues, and they additionally benefit from fast and efficient access to the local specialist lawyers in our large international network.
- Product liability and product compliance litigation: Our strategic vision, pragmatism and in-depth industry knowledge enables us to develop defence strategies and represent our clients out of court as well as in disputes before courts and arbitration tribunals. As part of this work. we also involve and coordinate defence teams of lawyers, technical experts and medical experts. Our long years of experience have taught us to anticipate the likely outcome of a case and ingrained in us a reliable instinct on the merits of our clients’ position, which we use to determine whether a case is worth the fight or had best be settled amicably. If a settlement is the best option, we use our expertise to negotiate and draft the agreements to procure the best possible outcome for our clients.
- Strategic advice on product and regulatory compliance: In the field of preventive risk management we lend our expertise and skill to building a process by providing outstanding advice and crafting smart solutions to the complex and increasingly stringent regulatory requirements that companies from regulated industries are obliged to meet. In case of physical products, we accompany our clients throughout the entire product cycle, from development and design to manufacturing, distribution and disposal of the product. Our advisory services range from detailed issues, such as the design of warnings or specific labelling requirements, to comprehensive legal advice on compliance with market access requirements and the monitoring and assessment of European and national regulatory developments.
- Strategic advice on product-related sustainability issues, incl. digital ethics: This topic includes eco-design, circular economy, ensuring human rights and protecting the environment along the supply chain as well as green claims. Sustainability is key. We advise our clients on how to make their products and processes green and sustainable, to anticipate legal developments on these issues early on and to implement them both within the company and in all dealings with third parties. In case of digital products and networked systems, we serve our clients in cooperation with our Data.Law team in all regulatory, liability, data protection and digital ethics.
- Set-up of product compliance, quality and product recall systems: A comprehensive product compliance management concept is designed to ensure that all stakeholders within a company are supplied with all relevant information on product-specific requirements, that only safe products are marketed and that, in the event of a crisis, responsibilities and necessary steps to remedy the situation are clear. In addition to designing general compliance management systems, we therefore also work with our clients to create tailor-made solutions for effective product compliance, quality and recall systems and to implement them internally.
- Product crisis consulting: In the event of a product crisis, we provide support with RAPEX and RASFF risk assessments. We develop recall concepts for voluntary and mandatory product recalls and provide expert support during the recall process, including the associated crisis communications. We also represent our clients vis-á-vis the competent authorities and insurance companies.
Our Regulatory Blog
Whether medical devices, food, fashion, cosmetics or robots. The regulatory requirements for all products are growing rapidly. Drivers are not only new technical developments, global supply chains and online trade, but also the topic of sustainability is increasingly in focus. Sustainable products are key. At the same time, the liability risks of companies are growing due to easier procedural enforcement options in the event of legal violations.
Our blog posts support you as a company in keeping track of the most important topics, regulations and news in the regulated industries.