About Patricia Ernst

Patricia is a senior associate in Morrison & Foerster’s Berlin office and a member of our Technology Transactions, Compliance and Investigations, and Film & Entertainment teams. As one part of her practice, she advises German and international clients on all aspects of intellectual property law, with an emphasis on German and European copyright and media law matters. Her corporate practice focuses on corporate compliance and internal investigations.

Patricia has aligned her personal interests with her practice at Morrison & Foerster and focuses part of her practice on the film, media, and entertainment industry. She is specialized in advising local and international entertainment companies such as major Hollywood studios and international Video on Demand (VoD) platforms on the whole lifecycle of audiovisual content, including the development, funding, production, marketing, and distribution of film and TV series in Germany. Patricia also regularly advises VoD platforms and TV broadcasters on regulatory aspects, such as youth protection, notice obligations, and advertisement restrictions. She is a lecturer on media law and film distribution at Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf (a master’s program at EPI institute).

Building on a background in international corporate and criminal law, Patricia advises internationally operating companies and national clients with regard to compliance matters—with a special focus on criminal and regulatory law matters. She also assists clients with regard to corporate governance and internal investigations. She gives strategic and practical advice to clients pursuing and defending against claims arising out of compliance failures.

Patricia is admitted to practice in Berlin and holds an LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Media Law from Humboldt University Berlin. She is a member of the German Film Academy (Deutsche Filmakademie), GRUR (Association for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights), and German Association for Comparative Law, as well as the German Academy of the Arts (Akademie der Künste). She studied law at Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Connecticut, School of Law, Hartford. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, she worked for the corporate law practice group of an international law firm in Berlin. As part of her Ph.D. studies in international corporate law, Patricia has been a research fellow with U.C. Hastings, College of the Law, San Francisco, and the Institute of International Private Law, International Civil Procedure Law, and Comparative Law in Berlin. Patricia has been awarded scholarships by, among others, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the University of Connecticut, School of Law.