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Handover of office at the DPMA: Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer is succeeded by Eva Schewior

Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer retired after 14 years as President – Eva Schewior will take over on 1 February – Federal Minister of Justice Dr Marco Buschmann paid tribute at a ceremony in Munich

Press release of 30 January 2023

Munich. At a ceremony in Munich, Federal Minister of Justice Dr Marco Buschmann gave Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer, who retired as President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), an official farewell. At the same time, he inducted Eva Schewior as her successor. “For more than 14 years in her role as President of the DPMA, Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer has rendered outstanding services, leaving a lasting impression on patent and trade mark protection, the DPMA and its staff. I would like to thank her most sincerely for this achievement,” the Federal Minister of Justice said. “At the same time, we have found an excellent successor in Eva Schewior. She knows how to inspire others with her passion and enthusiasm, how to respond and listen to them. With these social skills, her intellectual ability, her cosmopolitanism and her undisputed professional competence, she has excellent qualifications to hold the office of President of the DPMA.”

Increase in digitisation and efficiency:
The DPMA under the leadership of Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer

Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer was born in Bad Camberg/Taunus. From 1984, she conducted research at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law (now the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition) and was a lecturer at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. In 1991, Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer moved to the Federal Ministry of Justice where she headed the Department for Legal Issues of New Technologies as well as the Department for Trade Mark and Competition Law. She joined the German Patent and Trade Mark Office in 2001 and initially headed the Legal Division. In 2006, she took over as Director General Trade Marks, Utility Models and Designs. In 2009, Brigitte Zypries, Federal Minister of Justice at that time, appointed her as DPMA President.

During her term of office, among other things, Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer considerably increased the digitisation of the DPMA. In 2011, the German Patent and Trade Mark Office put the electronic case file for patent and utility model procedures into operation; the electronic case file for trade mark procedures followed four years later. This way, the DPMA became the first federal authority to have a fully electronic and workflow-controlled case file processing system. The DPMA also offers its customers fully electronic filing and response channels as well as increasingly efficient online databases and other digital services. Through digitisation and other measures for improvement in efficiency, but also due to a considerable increase in the number of staff in the IP examination department, the DPMA was able to significantly improve its performance under the leadership of Cornelia Rudloff-Schäffer.

Eva Schewior will take over as DPMA President on 1 February

Eva Schewior will take over as new President of the DPMA on 1 February. She had worked at the Federal Ministry of Justice since 1994. During this time, she held several positions and was seconded to the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union in Brussels. Since 2004, she had been Head of Division, including five years when she was responsible for administrative matters of the DPMA, the Federal Patent Court and the European Patent Organisation. Most recently, she served as Head of the Division for Civil Law.

Gallery of presidents

On the occasion of the handover of office, the DPMA has published an online gallery of its presidents on its website, containing information on all former office-holders.

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office

Inventiveness and creativity need effective protection. 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 to inventors and companies. They implement federal innovation strategies and develop the national, European and international protection systems further.

Bild: Frank Rollitz / DPMA

Last updated: 19 December 2024