Data Protection Statement of E. Blum & Co. AG
This data protection statement provides you with information on how and for what purposes we process your personal data (data that directly or indirectly identify natural persons) and what rights you are entitled to.
1. Responsible Person and Point of Contact
The responsible person under data protection law for the processing described in this data protection statement is:
E. Blum & Co. AG
Patent and Trademark Attorneys
Hofwiesenstrasse 349
CH-8050 Zurich
Switzerland
If you have any questions about how we handle personal data or concerns about data protection, please contact us at the above address.
2. Processed Personal Data and Processing Purposes
As part of our business activities, including an attorney-client relationship and a mandate, we obtain and process personal data, in particular personal data about our clients, associated persons, counterparties, courts and authorities, correspondence law firms, professional and other associations, participants in events, recipients of newsletters as well as other instances or their respective contact persons and employees.
You yourself or the persons concerned themselves provide us with some of the personal data when you or they contact us by e-mail or telephone and inquire about our services. This includes, for example, the name and contact details as well as information about the role of the person concerned in the company or organization for which you or the respective contact persons work or on whose behalf you or they contact us. We also process personal data that we receive in our correspondence with third parties (such as clients, counterparties, authorities and courts and their employees or other contact persons), in particular within the framework of the client or mandate relationship (e.g. name, contact details, information on the role of the person concerned in the company or employment relationship). We also collect some personal data ourselves, for example from public registers or on websites.
If you provide us with information about another person (e.g. employee, inventor or designer information, family members, agents, counterparties or other associated persons), we will assume that you have the authority to do so, the information is accurate and you have ensured that these persons are informed about this disclosure, insofar as an information obligation applies.
We process the personal data mentioned primarily in order to provide, document and bill our legal services. In addition, we process the data of our clients, their employees or other contact persons in order to inform them about publications, events, news, services or products that may be of interest.
To the extent legally required for data processing, we base our data processing on your consent, on existing legal obligations, on the protection of vital interests of a natural person, on the protection of legitimate interests of us or third parties (this includes communication with you or third parties, the operation of our website, the improvement of our offers and registration for certain offers and services, training and education, security purposes, compliance with Swiss law, applicable legal provisions and instructions and recommendations from authorities, compliance with internal rules for our risk management and corporate management, administration, securing and preservation of evidence, quality assurance, organization, implementation and follow-up of events, as well as processing of job applications), as well as on necessity for the initiation and conclusion of contracts, their administration, processing, performance and enforcement.
If you do not provide certain personal data, this may result in the provision of related services or the conclusion of a contract not being possible. We will as a general rule state where personal data requested by us is mandatory.
3. Transfer of Personal Data
In order to achieve the purposes described in this data protection statement, it may be necessary for us to transfer personal data to the following categories of recipients: external service providers, correspondence law firms, clients, counterparties and their legal representatives (in particular when we assert rights or raise claims on your behalf), business partners with whom we may have to coordinate the provision of legal services, as well as authorities and courts.
In addition, the data can be transferred to other persons where the inclusion of third parties results from the processing purposes according to Section 2. This applies, for example, to delivery addresses or payment recipients specified by you, third parties acting in the context of representation (e.g. your lawyer or your bank) or persons involved in official or court proceedings. We can transfer your personal data to our supervisory authority, in particular if this is necessary in individual cases for our release from professional secrecy obligations. In the course of business development, we may sell or acquire businesses, parts of businesses, assets or enterprises, or enter into partnerships, which may involve the disclosure of information (including about you, e.g. in your capacity as a client or supplier or as their agent) to those participating in these transactions.
We process personal data within our scope of responsibility in Switzerland. However, we can transfer the personal data to recipients (in particular clients, correspondence law firms and lawyers, external service providers, counterparties or authorities) who in turn process the personal data in other countries, including such that do not guarantee a level of data protection comparable to Swiss law. We will do the latter based on consent or standard contractual clauses, or if it is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or in your interest, or to enforce legal claims. In doing so, we rely on the statutory exceptions of consent, the performance of a contract, the establishment, exercise or enforcement of legal claims, overriding public interests, published personal data, data from a statutory Register, or the need to protect the integrity of the persons concerned.
4. Retention Period and Data Security
In general, we store and process your data for as long as required by our processing purposes (see Section 2.), by statutory retention or documentation periods, by our legitimate interests, in particular such to documentation and evidence purposes relating to a client relationship, or by an overriding public interest, or as long as storage is required for technical reasons (e.g. in the case of backups or document management systems). If there are no legal or contractual obligations or technical reasons to the contrary, we generally delete or anonymize your data after the storage or processing period has expired as part of our usual processes.
We take proportionate and reasonable precautions to protect personal data from loss, unauthorized amendment, or unauthorized access by third parties. We draw to your attention that we can use external IT service providers in the course of performing a mandate. We also use certain IT services and means of communication that may be associated with data security risks (e.g. e-mail, video conferences). You are responsible for informing us should you desire any special security measures.
5. Rights of the Data Subject
You have, in accordance with the applicable data protection law and to the extent provided for therein, the right to information about the personal data stored about you and the purpose of the data processing, the right to correction and deletion or restriction of the processing of your personal data, the right to object to the processing (in particular in the case of data processing for the purpose of direct marketing), the right to revoke a consent provided and to data transmission/portability.
Please note, however, that these rights are subject to conditions, limitations or exceptions. To the extent permitted or required by law, we may refuse requests to exercise these rights. In particular, we may or must retain the personal data for legal reasons or otherwise continue to process such data despite requests to delete the personal data or limit processing, for example, if we are obliged to store or process certain data or have an overriding interest in doing so which we may invoke if the data is required for the assertion of claims, if professional confidentiality obligations apply, or if the protection of third parties or business secrets takes effect. We reserve the right to redact copies or only deliver excerpts for data protection reasons or reasons of secrecy.
If costs will be incurred on your part, we will inform you in advance.
Please note that the exercise of these rights can conflict with contractual agreements, and this can have consequences such as premature termination of the contract, or financial consequences. We will inform you in advance if this is not already contractually agreed.
The exercise of the rights as a data subject usually requires that you clearly prove your identity. To assert your rights, you can contact the address listed in Section 1. above.
Each data subject also has the right to enforce their claims in court or to lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority. The competent data protection authority in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner ( http://www.edoeb.admin.ch ). A list of the competent data protection authorities in the EEA can be viewed here https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/board/members_de.
6 . Use of our Website
When you access our website, usage data, i.e. information of a general or technical nature, is automatically recorded, such as the date of access, your IP address, the type of web browser used and the operating system used. This information is used to ensure or improve the functionality and user-friendliness of our website and to create access statistics. Based on this information, we cannot draw any conclusions about your identity.
No cookies are used on our website.
You can use our website and call up the information made available there without revealing your identity to us. Personal data delivered to us when contacting us via an e-mail address provided on our website will be processed by us in accordance with this data protection statement.
7. Applicable Version and Amendments to this Data Protection Statement
This Data Protection Statement does not form part of a contract with you; it has the purpose of providing information about the type, scope and purpose of the use of personal data by E. Blum & Co. AG. We may unilaterally amend this Data Protection Statement at any time and without notice. The version published on this website is the current applicable version.