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PIZnet campaign week: "IP strategies for SMEs"

Nationwide free consultations providing guidance and orientation to small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups

Press release of 26 August 2020

Munich. How can I protect inventions or trade marks and how can I use them successfully on the market? How can I fight counterfeiting? As part of a nationwide campaign week organised by the association of German patent information centres (PIZnet e.V.), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups can obtain advice on how to manage and commercially exploit IP rights. The consultations providing guidance and orientation (no legal advice) will take place in seventeen towns throughout Germany during the week from 21 to 26 September 2020, entitled "IP strategies for SMEs". The concept of the campaign week developed by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) in cooperation with PIZnet e.V. as part of the EU project VIP4SME was met with great response in the past three years.

Individual advice for every company

In the course of the campaign week, companies receive free, unbiased and confidential advice on value creation and risk avoidance in dealing with intellectual property (IP). During the consultations of about two hours, experts from the patent information centres provide guidance and orientation by analysing the company-specific IP situation. This particularly concerns IP rights (patents, utility models, trade marks and designs), but also aspects of "soft IP", which includes trade secrets and copyright issues. On this basis, companies receive an initial assessment of their economic opportunities and risks in the field of intellectual property with specific recommendations for action – from individual suggestions for the best use of intellectual property in the company to approaches for strategic competitive advantages.

In view of the exceptional situation due to the current coronavirus pandemic, advice is provided via video and audio transmission. If you wish to obtain advice, you therefore need a desktop PC or laptop with a microphone and loudspeakers. A camera for video transmission is optional.

It is necessary to make an appointment in advance by phone using the following contact details at the respective event location. Please contact your regional patent information centre:

AACHEN // Patent- und Normenzentrum, Universitätsbibliothek RWTH Aachen University
phone: +49 241 8094480, e-mail: pnz@ub.rwth-aachen.de
CHEMNITZ // Patentinformationszentrum, Technische Universität Chemnitz
phone: +49 371 53113160, e-mail: piz@tu-chemnitz.de
DARMSTADT // Patent- und Markenzentrum Rhein-Main, Technische Universität Darmstadt
phone: +49 6151 1676500, e-mail: info@patent-markenzentrum.de
DORTMUND // Informationszentrum Technik und Patente, Universitätsbibliothek Dortmund
phone: +49 231 7554014, e-mail: itp.ub@tu-dortmund.de
DRESDEN // Patentinformationszentrum, Technische Universität Dresden
phone: +49 351 46332791, e-mail: piz@tu-dresden.de
HANOVER // EZN Erfinderzentrum Norddeutschland GmbH
phone: +49 511 8503080, e-mail: ezn@ezn.de
ILMENAU // PATON - Landespatentzentrum Thüringen, TU Ilmenau
phone: +49 3677 694505, e-mail: paton@tu-ilmenau.de
KAISERSLAUTERN // Patent- und Informationszentrum Rheinland-Pfalz an der TU Kaiserslautern
phone: +49 631 2053202, e-mail: piz@rti.uni-kl.de
KASSEL // PIZ Kassel, GINo Gesellschaft für Innovation Nordhessen mbH
phone: +49 561 8043481, e-mail: info@piz-kassel.de
KIEL // Patent- und Markenzentrum, WTSH - Wirtschaftsförderung und Technologietransfer Schleswig-Holstein GmbH
phone: +49 431 66666831, e-mail: schutzrechte@wtsh.de
LEIPZIG // Patentinformationszentrum, Agentur für Innovationsförderung und Technologietransfer GmbH Leipzig
phone: +49 341 26826631, e-mail: patent@agil-leipzig.de
MAGDEBURG // Patentinformationszentrum und Normen-Infopoint Magdeburg, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität
phone: 0391-6752979, e-mail: patentinformation@ovgu.de
NUREMBERG // Bayern Innovativ GmbH
phone: +49 911-20671939, e-mail: patentzentrum@bayern-innovativ.de
ROSTOCK // Patent- und Normenzentrum, Universitätsbibliothek Rostock
phone: +49 381 4988671, e-mail: patente@uni-rostock.de
SAARBRÜCKEN // Patent- und Markenzentrum, saarland.innovation & standort e.V. (saaris)
phone: +49 681 9520461, e-mail: patentinfo@saaris.de
SCHWERIN // Patentinformationszentrum, Technologie-Beratungs-Institut GmbH
phone: +49 385 3993193, e-mail: piz@tbi-mv.de
STUTTGART // Patent und Markenzentrum Baden-Württemberg
phone: 0711 1232558, e-mail: info@pmz-bw.de

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Matthias Knöbel, member of the board of PIZnet e.V., at the following contact details:

Matthias Knöbel (Dipl.-Ing.)
Leiter PIZ
Technische Universität Dresden
Patentinformationszentrum (PIZ)
01062 Dresden, Germany

phone: +49 351 463-32791
e-mail: piz@tu-dresden.de

More information is also available at www.dpma.de and on the website of the EU VIP4SME project at www.innovaccess.eu as well as on the website of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft deutscher Patentinformationszentren e.V. (association of German patent information centres) at www.piznet.de (in German).

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office

The DPMA is the German centre of expertise for all intellectual property rights – patents, utility models, trade marks and designs. As the largest national patent office in Europe and the fifth largest national patent office in the world, our office stands for the future of Germany as a country of inventors in a globalised economy. Its staff of just under 2,800 at three locations – Munich, Jena and Berlin – provide services for inventors and companies. They implement federal innovation strategies and develop the national, European and international protection systems further.

Picture: iStock.com/-Strizh-

Last updated: 26 August 2020