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Prof Dr Stefan Engels

Partner
Excellent lawyer and very good strategist and tactician who is excellently networked and has very deep knowledge of the media industry and the media business.
— Legal 500 EMEA
Hamburg
About

Prof. Dr. Stefan Engels specializes in intellectual property law (including advertising and competition law as well as copyright law), press and publicity law and broadcasting and online law (“media law”). He acts in an advisory capacity and in particular in contentious matters.

He focuses on advising national and international retail companies, brand owners as well as media and communications companies (e.g. publishing houses), broadcasters, direct marketing and other media companies (e.g. agencies, online services) on publications, contract drafting, sales, marketing and advertising, title and product launches and digital matters.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Engels heads the German Intellectual Property & Technology practice group at DLA Piper. He teaches e-commerce, advertising law and press law at the University of Hamburg and is a lecturer at the Hamburg Media School.

Areas of FocusConsumer Goods, Food and RetailMedia, Sport and EntertainmentTechnologyIntellectual Property
Professional QualificationsRechtsanwalt admitted with Hanseatische Rechtsanwaltskammer Hamburg

EXPERIENCE

  • Advising and representing companies against publications in the media (including social media) and against publications from state or social organisations (consumer and nature protection, NGOs, etc.)
  • Advising and representing major German publishers, broadcasters, news agencies and online platforms in press and media law matters
  • Advising and representing media and advertising companies on copyright issues (in particular in contentious matters)
  • Representing broadcasters, online providers and influencers in advertising and competition law matters (e.g. online marketing, product placement, design of advertising banners, labeling)
  • Representation of online platforms (e.g. price comparison platforms, news offers, stores) in disputes with competitors and consumer organizations (e.g. price advertising/e-commerce issues/misleading advertising, ESG)
  • Advice and representation of various e-commerce and direct marketing companies in matters of harassing advertising (Section 7 UWG – Direct Marketing Law)
  • Advice and representation of branded goods manufacturers and retail companies in competition and advertising law matters relating to ESG, price information, misleading advertising, etc. as well as in reputation management
  • Advice and representation in the civil enforcement of public law standards (in particular GDPR violations and gambling law)
Languages
  • German
  • English
Education
  • University of Hamburg, First State Examination, 1992 
  • Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, Second State Examination, 1997
  • University of Hamburg, Ph.D., 1997


    Specialist Lawyer for copyright and media law, 2010


    Appointed professor by the University of Hamburg (§ 17 HmbHG), 2016

Awards & Recognitions

  • JUVE Handbook 2024/2025: Leading name for press law and right of speech, frequently recommended for trademark and design law as well as competition law, media: contracts and copyrights, regulatory, transactions and financing; “excellently networked and has very deep knowledge of the media industry”, client, “very experienced and broad expertise”, competitor
  • Legal 500 Germany 2025: Leading partner for press and publishing law and recommended for media: entertainment as well as intellectual property: trademarks and unfair competition; “In media law matters, we continue to work primarily with Stefan Engels and his IP team. The reason for the ongoing collaboration is in particular the excellent broad coverage and thus also the good integration in the area of intellectual property rights and media law.”, “We particularly value Stefan Engels as an excellent lawyer and very good strategist and tactician who is extremely well connected and has very deep knowledge of the media industry and the media business. His commitment and ability to think outside the box of the specific mandate and to work comprehensively for the client are particularly noteworthy.”, “The team around Stefan Engels impresses with its ability to precisely assess facts and situations in terms of their legal relevance and the enforceability of claims. This leads to quick, positive results.”, “Stefan Engels: excellent expertise in press and media law, excellent judgement regarding the chances of success of different legal approaches. Very high success rate with the recommended legal steps.”
  • Chambers Europe Germany 2025: Recommended for TMT: media; “Stefan Engels is a very good tactician with in-depth knowledge of the media industry and legal matters.”, client
  • Handelsblatt in cooperation with Best Lawyers 2024/2025: Recommended for intellectual property law, media law, information technology law and advertising law
  • WirtschaftsWoche 2022: Recommended as “top lawyer” for data protection
  • Kanzleimonitor 2020/2021: Top 20 of the most recommended lawyers in Germany; recommended for media and press law as well as for intellectual property
  • Managing IP – IP STARS 2024: Recommended as “Notable Practitioner”

Publications

  • The solicitation of donations in the focus of competition law, NJW 2023, 1542-1548 (with Jonas Mücke).
  • Environmental Advertising Claims Guide, 06 August 2024
  • Commentary on §§ 22, 23 KUG, 47-50, 60-63 UrhG, in: 'P. Möhring/K. Nicolini, Urheberrechtsgesetz', Munich 2017 (4th edition) and also Beck Online Kommentar
  • New rules for car labeling - German Car Energy Consumption Labelling Ordinance amendment comes into force, 17 April 2024
  • Directive on consumer empowerment for ecological change comes into force, 25 March 2024
  • Best Practice Guide: 'Wettbewerbsrecht und Dialogmarketing', May 2022, brochure by DDV (Deutscher Dialogmarketing Verband e. V.) - 'Getting the Deal Right', May 2022, brochure by DDV (Deutscher Dialogmarketing Verband e. V.). V.)
  • 'Getting the Deal Through, Länderbeitrag Germany', in: Advertising & Marketing 2019, London 2019 (with Beatrice Brunn)
  • 'AdBlocker auf dem Prüfstand', GRUR Prax 2015, pp. 338-340
  • 'Dialogmarketing in Deutschland', in: transfer - Werbeforschung & Praxis, April 2014, pp. 43-45
  • 'Aktuelle Fragen des Rundfunkwerberechts', ZUM 2014, pp. 946- 957 (with Jana Semrau)
  • 'Telefonmarketing', in: H. Holland (ed.), Digitales Dialogmarketing, 2014, pp. 497-513

Seminars

  • Umweltwerbung auf dem Prüfstand, 14 November 2024
  • MIPCOM Cannes 2024, 21 October 2024

Prior Experience

While studying law in Hamburg, Stefan Engels worked for five years in the SAT.1 newsroom and then as a research assistant at the Hans Bredow Institute for Radio and Television.

Stefan Engels has been working as a lawyer since 1997 and as a partner since 2003 in international commercial law firms, where he held the role of Germany's personnel partner and sector head for the media, among others.

Lecturer

  • Prof. Dr. Stefan Engels has been teaching e-commerce and advertising law as well as press law at the University of Hamburg since 2015.

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Expert Committee within Hanseatic Bar Association for Advertising- and Competition Law
  • Working group of Publishing House Counsels
  • Study group for press law and freedom of the press
  • German Association for industrial property protection and copyrights (GRUR)

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+49 40 188 88 247
(Work, Hamburg)
+49 173 62 05 562
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