Dr. Simon Apel advises comprehensively on intellectual property law, IT law and data law as well as on financing rounds, joint ventures and exit transactions.

Dr. Simon Apel (Principal Associate) advises national and international companies on intellectual property law (including trade secret law), IT law and data law (including data protection law). He specializes in advising clients before court and out of court on copyright issues, software projects and unfair competition law. He also specialises in advising on licensing law, distribution agreements and M&A transactions with regard to intellectual property law, data law or distribution agreements.

Furthermore, he advises investors and start-ups on all issues related to financing rounds, joint ventures and exit transactions.

Principal Associate

Contact

T +49 621 4257 386

E Simon.Apel@sza.de

Expertise

Intellectual PropertyPrivacy and Data Security

Mandates

Ongoing advice to an international patent licensing company (also in court).
Ongoing advice to a German beverage manufacturer in several trademark disputes.
Ongoing advice to a German confectionery manufacturer, in particular on unfair competition issues (also in court).
Ongoing advice to companies of an international packaging manufacturing group, in particular in the area of distribution agreements.
Ongoing advice to companies of a German agricultural machinery manufacturer, in particular on licensing issues in the software sector and on data protection law.

Ongoing advice to a US media provider on German law issues in a patent infringement case pending in the USA.
Ongoing advice to a Chinese electronics manufacturer on unfair competition and data protection issues.
Ongoing advice to companies of a Korean electronics manufacturing group on design law (in court) and data protection law issues.
Ongoing advice to a startup in the field of AI-based data analysis, in particular on licensing agreements, data protection and financing rounds.
Ongoing advice to a start-up in the area of commodity tracking/software as a service, in particular with respect to license agreements.
Ongoing advice to a start-up in the field of robotics, in particular in the area of licensing and distribution agreements.
Ongoing advice to a globally active German tool manufacturer on licensing issues (also in court).
Ongoing advice to a German manufacturer of special measuring instruments in the wood sector, in particular on unfair competition issues (also in court).
Ongoing advice to an internationally active German automotive supplier on data protection law issues and on intellectual property law issues in the context of project contracts.
Ongoing advice to a German provider of services and products in the field of operational security testing, in particular on software development contracts and trade secret protection.
Advice to a German automobile manufacturer on several global advertising agency contracts.
Advice to a German screw manufacturer on the implementation of a new ERP software system and the project and software license agreements required for this.
Advice on the sale of a German augmented reality start-up to a US company.
Advice for a non-profit German company on software licensing and software projects.
Advice of a municipal enterprise on the implementation of the GDPR.
Advice of a German PropTech start-up in a financing round.
Advice of a German startup in the area of automated claim enforcement.
Advice of an a German-English start-up in the area of software-as-a-service license agreements.
Advice of a German cinema operator on unfair competition law, data protection law and software licensing law (also in court).
Advice of a video game and video game console manufacturer on trademark and unfair competition issues (also in court)*.
Advice of an international video game publisher on trademark and unfair competition issues*.
Advice of an US manufacturer of dietary supplements on unfair competition issues (also in court)*.
*at former law firm.

Publications

GeschGehG. Geschäftsgeheimnisgesetz, Commentary, XLVII, 1306 p., Fachmedien Recht & Wirtschaft, Frankfurt a.M. 2022 (joint ed. with Joerg Brammsen; in German). Also the author of the Chapters Introduction C - Fundamentals of European Law and International Law (pp. 57-113) as well as the commentary on § 10 GeschGehG (liability of the infringer, pp. 784-844; with Serpil Dilbaz) and § 21 GeschGehG (publication of the judgment, pp. 1061-1078).
Trade secrets in the company's compliance system: requirements for the implementation of a holistic protection of secrets, Betriebs-Berater (BB) 2022, pp. 1795-1804 (together with Jonathan Drescher and Jonatan Lindner; in German).
Three years of GeschGehG – A case law report, Kommunikation & Recht (K&R) 2022, pp. 385-303 (with Afra Nickl; in German).
Metall auf Metall (Episode) IV – A new Hope for Sound Sampling? – Also a comment on BGH, decision dated 30.4.2020 - I ZR 115/16 - Metall auf Metall IV (ZUM 2020, 617), Zeitschrift für Urheber- und Medienrecht (ZUM) 2020, pp. 760-769 (in German).
Digital Sound Sampling, German Copyright and the "Metal on Metal" Case - A Never-Ending Story?, Media and Law International (MR-Int) 2019, pp. 40-47.

Brand value as a justification for a qualitative-selective distribution system: from "Coty" to "Forever Living" - and a little further? Wettbewerb in Recht und Praxis (WRP) 2018, pp. 1045-1049 (with Thomas Nägele; in German).
Comment on BGH, 05.10.2017 - I ZR 117/16 - Tobacco advertising on the internet, WRP 2018, pp. 55-56 (in German).
On the Genuine Use of A Trade Mark for Open Source Software, WRP 2017, pp. 775-780 (with Thomas Nägele; in German).
The Third Party Information Claim under Sec. 19 (2) MarkenG - A Plea for A Restrictive Interpretation, MarkenR 2016, pp. 345-352 (with Steffen Henn; in German).
Scientific Plagiarism as An Infringement of Competition. Is the Law Against Unfair Competition a Suitable Instrument for the Protection of Scientific Honesty?, UFITA Vol. 2012/III, pp. 665-720 (with Martin John; in German).
The Performing Musician in the Laws of Germany and the USA, XXIV, 467 p., Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2011 (cf. jur. diss. Univ. Bayreuth 2010; in German).
Beck'sche Online Forms IT and Data Law, 11th ed., C.H. Beck, Munich 2022 (joint ed. with Thomas Nägele; in German). Also the author of forms 3.1 (Contract on the Creation of and Ownership of Certain Data ["B2B"]), 3.2 (Contract on the Creation of and Ownership of Certain Data ["B2C"]), 3.5 (Contract on the Use of Provided Data ["Data License Agreement"]), 3.6 (Data Purchase Agreement) as well as (in each case with Thomas Nägele) 2.27.1 (Data Protection Notice for an Invitation to the Annual General Meeting (Physical Presence)), 2.27.2 (Data Protection Notice for an Invitation to the Annual General Meeting (Virtual)) and 2.28 (Data Protection Notice for Inclusion in an Insider List).
The Development of Data Protection Law in the Fourth Year of the GDPR (Part 2): Overview to the Practice of Supervisory Authorities, Der Betrieb (DB) 2022, pp.2008-2017 (with Thomas Nägele, Alexander Stolz, Jonathan Drescher and Lara Sefrin; in German).
The Development of Data Protection Law in the Fourth Year of the GDPR (Part 1): Legislation with Data Protection Law Relevance, DB 2022, pp. 1946-1955 (with Thomas Nägele, Alexander Stolz, Jonathan Drescher and Lara Sefrin; in German).
Legal Protection of Machine Learning Models, Recht Digital (RDi) 2020, pp. 24-34 (with Markus Kaulartz; in German).
Chapter 7.1: AI and Urheberrecht, in: Markus Kaulartz/Tom Braegelmann (eds.) ,Rechtshandbuch Artificial Intelligence und Machine Learning, C.H. Beck, Munich 2020, pp. 291-311 (with Thomas Nägele; in German).
§ 5.4 – Data Sets in M&A-Transaktions, in: Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider/Nikola Werry/Susanne Werry (eds.), Data Law in the Digitalization, Berlin 2020, pp. 560-588 (with Anke Hofmann; in German).
§ 10 – Data Sets in Foreclosure and Insolvency, in: Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider/Nikola Werry/Susanne Werry (eds.), Data Law in the Digitalization, Berlin 2020, pp. 941-981 (with Micha Brechtel; in German).
Comment on BGH, Judgment v. 12.07.2018 - III ZR 183/17 - Transfer of a Facebook User Contract Upon the Death of The Account Owner, Zeitschrift für Datenschutz (ZD) 2018, pp. 486-488 (in German).
No Application of the ECJ's "UsedSoft" Case Law Beyond Computer Programs – An Overview on the Exhaustion with regard to "Used" Digital Goods, ZUM 2015, pp. 640-648 (in German).
Comment on LG Hamburg, judgment of 25 October 2013, 315 O 449/12 [SAP licenses], ZUM 2014, pp. 74-77 (with Manuel Biehler; in German).

Tpirot sza ma 06 apel hires 002 87 A3597

Tpirot sza ma 06 apel hires 003 87 A3638

Education & Engagement

Member of the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property and Copyright (GRUR)
Member of the GRUR Expert Committee "Data Law”
Lecturer at the University of Mannheim ("Introduction to Copyright Law")

Education

University of Bayreuth (Scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation [Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes])
University of Bayreuth (Dr. jur. , fellow of the DFG Research Training Group "Intellectual Property and Public Domain")
Legal clerkship in Frankfurt am Main
Languages: German, English