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Key positions filled: new Heads of two Directorates General at the DPMA

Dr Bernd Läßiger becomes Head of Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models", Robert Lemperle now heads Directorate General "Information" – DPMA President: "Experienced and highly competent colleagues with great leadership qualities"

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) has recently filled two strategically important leadership positions: The former Head of the Directorate General "Information", Dr Bernd Läßiger, will now head the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models"; his successor is Robert Lemperle, who used to be the Deputy Director General of "Patents and Utility Models", which he also headed on an interim basis. "We are pleased that we can fill two key positions at the DPMA with colleagues who are both experienced and highly competent", DPMA President Eva Schewior said. "Dr Bernd Läßiger and Robert Lemperle have been shaping the work and direction of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office for a long time and have proven their great leadership qualities in many senior positions."

Patent examination and information: the duties of the Directorates General

In the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models", more than 1,000 engineers and scientists examine technological inventions and grant patents if all respective requirements are met. The Directorate General is divided into five clusters: Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Technology, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry and Physics. The examiners at the DPMA also deal with oppositions filed against granted patents and carry out searches on request. In addition, the staff of the Directorate General are responsible for the administration of patents and all procedures in the field of utility models and topographies.

The Directorate General "Information" has the duty of informing the public about IP rights. The webpages and online services provide access to the DPMA’s databases and allow for comprehensive IP searches. The staff of this Directorate General are responsible for operating and further developing all of the office’s information technologies. This includes the systems for end-to-end electronic processing of IP procedures (electronic case file) and the digital application procedures for IP rights.

Physicist and electrical engineer: career histories of the new Directors General

Dr Bernd Läßiger was born in Munich in 1961 and has two grown-up daughters. He attended the University of Stuttgart for his undergraduate degree in Physics and then completed his studies at the Technical University of Munich. Afterwards, he obtained his doctorate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology in Aachen, where he also worked as a project engineer. He was then employed as a sales engineer and head of an application centre. In 2000, Dr Läßiger joined the DPMA, where he worked as a patent examiner in Patent Division 1.51 and functioned as a group leader. Later, he headed the Patent and Utility Model Administration and the IT coordination of the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models". In 2018, he became head of a patent division, and in 2021, he was appointed the head of a cluster. In 2022, Dr Läßiger was promoted to Head of the Directorate General "Information".

Robert Lemperle grew up in Oberndorf am Neckar. He was born in 1965 and has two adult children. Lemperle studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Stuttgart. He then worked as a development and project engineer on the Transrapid maglev train and spent several years on its development. Then he joined the DPMA, where he initially worked as a patent examiner until 2010 and later as a group leader. Between 2012 and 2014, he was on secondment to the Federal Ministry of Justice. After this, he became Head of Division and later Deputy Director General. In December 2023, he was appointed Acting Head of the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models".

• Organisation and Senior Management at the DPMA

Picture: DPMA

Last updated: 13 February 2025