I. Scope of application

1. These Terms and Conditions shall apply to all contractual relationships between the patent law firm Schaumburg und Partner Patentanwälte mbB (hereinafter: SCHAUMBURG) and its contractual partners from the date of their entry into force. In the case of existing contractual relationships, these Terms and Conditions shall only apply from the date on which they come into force. They shall not apply retroactively.

2. Contractual partners within the meaning of these Terms and Conditions are customers who instruct SCHAUMBURG with the provision of services. The services covered by these Terms and Conditions include in particular, but not exclusively, legal advice in the field of intellectual property rights, representation before offices, courts and authorities, preparing and filing applications for intellectual property rights, conducting searches for intellectual property rights, monitoring of intellectual property rights, correspondence with domestic and foreign lawyers and/or patent attorneys, as well as other services outside of a client relationship which are related to intellectual property rights.

3. Contractual partners within the meaning of these Terms and Conditions are also subcontractors instructed by SCHAUMBURG in the context of the provision of services which SCHAUMBURG has been instructed to provide by a customer.

4. Contractual partners within the meaning of these Terms and Conditions are also intermediaries who instruct SCHAUMBURG to provide services on behalf of or on the instructions of a third party. Intermediaries are in particular foreign lawyers and/or patent attorneys.

5. Orders are always placed with SCHAUMBURG and not with individual partners or employees.

6. Deviations shall only apply if agreed in writing or prescribed by law.

7. Additionally, the professional regulations for patent attorneys pursuant to the German Patent Attorney Act Patentanwaltsordnung) and the Professional Code of Conduct for Patent Attorneys (Berufsordnung für Patentanwälte) shall apply.

II. Contractual relationship and power of attorney

1. The contractual relationship between SCHAUMBURG and the customer shall arise through explicit acceptance of the order or implicitly through provision of the instructed service or a partial service thereof by SCHAUMBURG.

2. The contractual relationship between SCHAUMBURG and the subcontractor shall arise through explicit acceptance of the order or implicitly through provision of the instructed service or a partial service thereof by the subcontractor.

3. The customer authorizes SCHAUMBURG within the framework of a mandate relationship to represent him in all necessary proceedings before the competent authorities, courts or international organizations and vis-à-vis third parties.

III. Scope and execution of the order

1. The subject-matter of the order is the agreed service, not a specific legal or economic outcome. The order is executed in accordance with the principles of proper professional practice.

2. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the order shall be processed exclusively based on German law and the EU law applicable in Germany.

3. SCHAUMBURG shall be entitled to call in expert employees or external specialists for the execution of the order without consultation and without prior approval.

4. Communication between SCHAUMBURG and the customer and third parties may take place by e-mail. Encryption shall only take place if expressly requested by the customer and a type of encryption has been agreed.

IV. Remuneration, advance payment and due date

1. Remuneration shall be based on SCHAUMBURG’s fee schedule, which is available for inspection at SCHAUMBURG’s business premises and shall be made available to the customer upon request, and any remuneration agreements concluded.

2. SCHAUMBURG shall be entitled to charge an appropriate advance payment when the order is placed, the payment of which shall be a prerequisite for the commencement or continuation of the work.

3. Payment is due immediately upon receipt of the invoice by the customer. 30 days after receipt, default interest shall accrue at the statutory rate in accordance with § 288 BGB. Offsetting by the customer against claims of SCHAUMBURG shall only be permitted in the case of undisputed or legally established claims. SCHAUMBURG reserves the right to issue monthly invoices.

4. SCHAUMBURG shall be entitled to accept money and other assets on behalf of the customer and to settle outstanding remuneration claims therefrom, insofar as these are not earmarked for a specific purpose.

5. The customer undertakes to provide SCHAUMBURG with its VAT identification number immediately upon request and expressly agrees to its disclosure to the German tax authorities.

V. Instruction and payment of subcontractors

1. SCHAUMBURG shall be entitled, at its own discretion, to select and instruct subcontractors with activities on behalf of and explicitly or implicitly on behalf of the customer. Such subcontractors include, in particular, domestic and foreign licensed attorneys-at-law and/or patent attorneys, drawing offices, translators, fee payment companies and validation service companies. However, the customer may also appoint or subsequently change subcontractors upon instructing SCHAUMBURG. The costs for the expenses associated with the change shall be borne by the customer.

2. The customer agrees that SCHAUMBURG may disclose confidential information to subcontractors who are bound to secrecy to the extent necessary. SCHAUMBURG shall oblige subcontractors such as drawing offices or translators, who are not legally bound to secrecy, to maintain secrecy by means of a separate agreement, pointing out the criminal consequences with respect to secrecy.

3. The customer shall be solely liable for the remuneration of the subcontractor instructed. SCHAUMBURG shall accept the subcontractor’s invoice, invoice the customer for the invoice amount plus its own expenses and process the payment to the subcontractor after payment of the invoice by the customer.

4. By accepting the order, the subcontractor acknowledges that the customer alone shall be liable for the subcontractor’s remuneration. In the event of non-payment by the customer, SCHAUMBURG shall not be obliged to settle the subcontractor’s invoice. In particular, SCHAUMBURG shall not be liable for such obligatons.

VI. Instructing via intermediaries

1. If SCHAUMBURG is instructed by intermediaries, such as a domestic or foreign lawyer and/or patent attorney, on behalf of a third party, the intermediary shall ensure that SCHAUMBURG is duly authorized by the third party. Upon request, the intermediary shall provide SCHAUMBURG with proof of proper authorization by sending a power of attorney.

2. The intermediate shall guarantee the proper remuneration in favor of SCHAUMBURG. If this to necessary secure payment, the intermediate shall demand an advance payment from the third party.

3. If payment for a service provided by SCHAUMBURG for a third party remains outstanding despite a payment reminder sent to the intermediary, SCHAUMBURG shall be entitled to demand payment directly from the third party.

VII. Searches

1. Insofar as SCHAUMBURG carries out searches for the customer on existing or registered property rights (in particular patents, utility models, trademarks or designs), these shall be carried out within the framework of a brief search in order to limit the costs. In doing so, SCHAUMBURG shall, at its own discretion, in particular take into account publicly accessible databases, mostly those provided by national or international patent and trademark offices. No guarantee is given for the completeness of the search results. In particular, no guarantee is given that the databases used are complete, up-todate or free of errors.

2. In the case of trademark searches, the brief search is carried out as an identity search, usually limited to classes of goods and services. In the case of trademarks with figurative elements and figurative trademarks, the brief search is further carried out on the basis of an image comparison provided in the respective database. As a result, there is a risk that possibly relevant trademarks will not be found during the brief search. In order to reduce this risk, SCHAUMBURG recommends carrying out a similarity search after the brief search. An explicit instruction from the customer is required for this.

3. In the case of patent or utility model searches, the brief search is limited to patent classes, keywords, time periods and/or applicants. The documents found are only examined cursorily, usually based on the figures. It should be noted that a patent application is generally not published until 18 months after the relevant priority date. The registration and thus the publication of a utility model application can be suspended for up to 15 months upon request. There is a risk that relevant documents may not be found during a brief search. In order to reduce this risk, SCHAUMBURG recommends carrying out a more comprehensive patent search or utility model search after the brief search. An explicit instruction from the customer is required for this.

4. In the case of design searches, the brief search is limited to design classes, keywords, time periods and/or applicants as well as on the basis of an image comparison provided in the respective database. The designs found are only viewed cursorily, usually based on the images. A search for non-registered designs is not carried out as part of the brief search. Designs with deferred publication cannot be found until publication. As a result, there is a risk that potentially relevant
designs will not be found during the brief search. To reduce this risk, SCHAUMBURG recommends carrying out a more comprehensive design search after the brief search. An explicit instruction from the client is required for this.

5. If a trademark similarity search, a comprehensive patent search or a comprehensive design search is to be carried out on the instructions of the customer, SCHAUMBURG shall have such a search carried out by a specialized search company specified by the customer or selected by SCHAUMBURG for the customer. SCHAUMBURG shall undertake the legal evaluation of the search results on the instructions of the customer. SCHAUMBURG assumes no liability for the search result of the search company.

6. Any liability for damages or disadvantages resulting directly or indirectly from the use of the search results is expressly excluded to the extent permitted by law. In particular, SCHAUMBURG accepts no liability for commercial decisions made on the basis of the search results.

VIII. Liability and limitation of liability

1. For damages caused by SCHAUMBURG due to simple negligence – with the exception of damages resulting from injury to life, body and health as well as damages which give rise to a manufacturer’s obligation to pay compensation pursuant to § 1 of the German Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG) – all claims for damages of the customer arising from this contractual relationship shall be limited to a maximum amount of EUR 4,000,000 (in words: four million) per claim.

2. The limitation of liability pursuant to clause 1 shall also apply to claims asserted by third parties against SCHAUMBURG arising from or in connection with the contractual relationship.

3. Any liability for intent remains unaffected.

4. SCHAUMBURG shall maintain professional liability insurance with a sum insured exceeding the statutory minimum coverage. At the customer’s request, insurance to an amount requested by the customer may be taken out for the individual case and the limitation of liability may be waived up to this amount, provided that SCHAUMBURG and the customer have reached agreement in advance with regard to the associated costs.

5. A claim for damages may only be asserted against SCHAUMBURG within a preclusive period of one year after the customer has become aware of the damage and the event giving rise to the claim, but at the latest within five years after the event giving rise to the claim, unless the failure to meet the deadline is not due to fault. The claim shall lapse if no action is taken within a period of six months of the written refusal of compensation and the customer has been informed of this consequence. The right to raise an objection due to the statute of limitations remains unaffected.

IX. Passing on the results of the work

The work results of SCHAUMBURG are intended exclusively for the customer and may only be disclosed to third parties with the prior written consent of SCHAUMBURG. The customer shall indemnify SCHAUMBURG against all claims of third parties which are based on the fact that the customer has disclosed work results of SCHAUMBURG to third parties in violation of the provisions of this agreement. The parties clarify that third parties within the meaning of this provision also include all companies affiliated with the customer.

X. Use of artificial intelligence

SCHAUMBURG is authorized to artificial intelligence (AI) to support efficient and high-quality order processing. The final
examination, legal assessment and responsibility always remain with the patent attorney at SCHAUMBURG. Original legal assessments are carried out exclusively by a human patent attorney.

XI. Data protection and personal data

Information on data protection and the handling of personal data can be found at www.schaumburg.partners/en/privacy/ .

XII. Applicable law, place of performance and place of jurisdiction

1. The contractual relationship shall be governed exclusively by German law, excluding German private international law.

2. The place of performance and jurisdiction for all disputes shall be the registered office of SCHAUMBURG.

XIII. Other

1. Should any provision of these Terms and Conditions be invalid or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. An invalid or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest to the intended purpose.

2. Amendments or additions to these Terms and Conditions must be made in text form and must be expressly identified as such. This also applies to the waiver of the text form.

3. These Terms and Conditions are originally written in German and may have been translated into other languages. In case of any doubt or differences, the German version shall be authoritative.

These Terms and Conditions of Business and Mandate enter into force on Dezember 8, 2025.