Bereich DPMA

Events in 2020

Last year, there were only few physical events due to the coronavirus pandemic. Before the beginning of the pandemic, some physical events were held in early 2020. Due to the spread of the coronavirus, however, the majority of the planned events, visits and meetings had to be cancelled.
While it was possible to change some events to take place in virtual formats, some of last year’s events had to be cancelled as the lead time was too short.

DPMA information booth at the PSI Show Düsseldorf

From 7 to 9 January 2020, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) had an information booth at the PSI Show, the trade show of the promotional product industry, in Düsseldorf. The exhibition stand focused on raising public awareness of and providing information on intellectual property rights.

As many trade fairs were only held in a digital format due to the coronavirus pandemic, we also developed a virtual exhibition stand. An interactive 360° tour of the office with integrated information points provides visitors with information on IP rights and search options. You will find more information in the next chapter.

DPMA President Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer welcomed the guests

On 21 February 2020, the UNION-IP Round Table was held at the DPMA in Munich. UNION-IP is an international and independent association of persons active in intellectual property and industrial property rights.

DPMA President Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer welcomed the guests, who exchanged their views on the issue “Inventive step is not so obvious – How to deal with differences across Europe”, discussing the different approaches to assessing the inventive step in the examination of patent applications in Europe.

kick-off event at the DPMA in Munich on 4 March 2020

With a road show in eight big cities in Germany, the DPMA wanted to provide information about its first experience with the provisions of the Trade Mark Law Modernisation Act. After the great success of the 2019 road show, it was planned to continue this format in 2020.

The kick-off event at the DPMA in Munich on 4 March 2020 took place, but the following planned events unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Group photograph taken during the visit of Mr Ingmar Jung, MP

On 11 August 2020, Ingmar Jung, member of parliament (parliamentary group of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union) and reporting member responsible for intellectual property on the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection of the German Bundestag, exchanged views on the discussion draft of the 2nd Patent Law Modernisation Act with the senior management of the office, also addressing the challenges of the Directorate General Patents and Utility Models as well as the personnel growth since 2018, the presentation of the qualification phases and the development of the concluded procedures in the patent and trade mark areas. The guest from Berlin got an idea of the reorganisation and establishment of new divisions. Ultimately, Mr Jung was impressed in particular with the nearly unrestricted ability to operate of the IP areas during the coronavirus pandemic.

VIP Ticket PIZnet campaign week 2020

For the fourth time, the Association of German Patent Information Centres (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Deutscher Patentinformationszentren PIZnet e. V. – PIZnet) organised a nationwide PIZnet campaign week for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups with the theme “IP strategies for SMEs”.

During the campaign week from 21 to 25 September 2020, IP guidance was offered in 17 German cities, providing companies with neutral and confidential advice free of charge on value creation and risk avoidance in connection with intellectual property. During these two-hour consultations, experts of the patent information centres analysed the company-specific economic opportunities and risks in the field of intellectual property.

In particular, the consultations addressed the IP rights (patents, utility models, trade marks and designs), but also aspects of what is known as soft IP, which comprises business secrets and copyright. On this basis, the companies were given initial recommendations for action – from individual suggestions for the best use of intellectual property in the company to approaches to developing strategic competitive advantages.

Due to the special situation of the coronavirus pandemic, the consultations were held via video and audio transmission.

Link to the PIZnet web pages (in German): PIZnet

video conferences: DPMA President Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer (top), Vice-President Christine Moosbauer and Vice-President Ulrich Deffaa

In 2020, many important meetings were held as video conferences. DPMA President Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer (top), Vice-President Christine Moosbauer and Vice-President Ulrich Deffaa met top-ranking representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) as well as national partner offices and other authorities and companies.

Jena lectures

Since 2001, 53 very popular Jena lectures on intellectual property protection and copyright have been presented. They were initiated by our Jena sub-office together with Prof Volker Michael Jänich (Gerd Bucerius Chair in Civil Law including German and International Intellectual Property, Friedrich Schiller University Jena). Current issues concerning all aspects of intellectual property have since been presented and discussed by experts in a series of lectures several times per year.

As a co-organiser, the centre-east district group of the Association of Intellectual Property Experts (VPP) supports the public series of lectures, for which admission is free.

Unfortunately, in 2020, the Jena lectures could not take place as physical events due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On 14 January 2021 for the first time, a purely virtual lecture on the 2020 amendment to the Act against Unfair Competition was presented by Prof Volker Michael Jänich.

Are you interested in attending the Jena lectures? Then, please contact Ines Rösel (telephone: +49 3641 40-5501, e-mail: ines.roesel@dpma.de).

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press conference, © iStock.com/Mihajlo Maricic
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