In this context, it was a great moment on 13 October 1967, when the committee, including young mayor Hans-Jochen Vogel, decided in favour of the courageous design of architect Günther Behnisch’s team. The core element, a huge tent roof made of acrylic glass, was a sensation because of its stable and aesthetic structure. Frei Otto, the mastermind behind this construction, was the pioneer of a biomorphic structural form of curved, airy roofs. Thanks not least to the Olympic site, he is considered one of the most influential architects of the 20th century.

In order to make it easier for the athletes from all over the world to find their way to the sports facilities, a unique guidance system featuring a colour code and pictograms was created. Graphic designer Otto “Otl” Aicher was responsible for the overall appearance of the Olympics.

Otl Aicher (1922-1991) played a key role at the influential Ulm School of Design. His pictograms, which became the actual symbol of the 1972 Olympic Games, are easily understandable to the general public. They are considered a universal design classic transcending language and cultural boundaries. Otl Aicher’s sign language became world-famous and, for a long time, has been part of mankind's collective visual memory.

Otl Aicher, too, wanted to clearly distance himself and his design from the aesthetics of 1936 (by the way, he was married to Inge Scholl, the older sister of resistance fighters Hans and Sophie Scholl). With his colour scheme for the Munich Games, he avoided the colours preferred by the Nazi regime (black, brown and red). Instead, he chose light blue as the main colour, complemented by silver, white, orange and light green. From the posters to the guidance system to the helpers’ clothing – the colour scheme was applied to all materials in use. Otl Aicher wisely chose Univers as the overall font. Later, he developed his own font, Rotis, named after his place of residence.

To this day, the Olympic facilities reflect the spirit of light-heartedness and cheerfulness of the time when they were designed. According to the Munich-based German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, they represent "the actual landmark of the Federal Republic of Germany". Munich is committed to having the venue selected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. This could become a reality in a few years. Otl Aicher, Frei Otto and their fellows would certainly be very proud.

The benefits of IP rights in meetings with investors

In my opinion, design is also underestimated when it comes to the valuation of IP rights. My company holds a patent, a design and an EU trade mark. But externally, the patent is always considered more valuable than the registered design. Taking into account the sometimes very limited scopes of protection for specific inventions, I do not think that is accurate.

In our day-to-day business, we benefit from our three registered IP rights mainly when we are in touch with investors, potential licensees and corporate clients. Even though the scope of protection of a patent is rarely questioned, it is referred to as a seal of quality: Without a patent, there will be no meetings with investors, and therefore no further growth.

IP rights are also important for online trade. Big online platforms require proof of a registered trade mark, and the registration ensures that no other merchant can place advertisements using the name of our trade mark. But despite all chances that IP rights entail, they also come with a challenge, in particular for young companies: claiming them.

Luckily, we have not had any problems with product or trade mark copying or anything in that vein since our company was founded. But I did wonder how I, as managing director, would be able to claim our rights as a relatively small company, if, for instance, a big discounter chain was to launch a copy of the “Knister Grill”. IP right procedures can often go on for years and entail substantial costs. That can quickly destabilize a young company.

It is risky business to rely only on the value of registered IP rights. For us, too, it is most likely only a matter of time until a copy shows up. That is why we also invest a lot of resources to make our trade mark and product widely known in order to prevent that a low-cost copy will become established at all.

But at the same time, we are already taking strategic preventive action today. We are working on launching a reduced version of the grill as white-label product in order to tap into another market segment. If you are clever about it, then achieving a high turnover in the low-price range segment and making the main product of the trade mark more widely known are possible at the same time. In other words, our means of self-protection is also copying ourselves before anyone else does it.