Contact: info@mpi-alumni.de
The MPI’s Alumni Association (“Friends and Alumni of the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law”) was founded in 2002. It is approved as a non-profit association. The purpose of the association is the promotion of science and research in the fields of study of the MPI. In addition, the association serves as an alumni networking forum.
The first meeting took place in Munich on May 7 and 8, 2004. On Saturday morning the participants addressed the subject of the EU’s eastern enlargement and its impact on Intellectual Property issues. The audience listened to lectures of Bojan Pretnar (WIPO), Gert Kolle (EPA) and Jens Gaster (European Commission).
The second alumni meeting took place on June 10 and 11, 2005 in Munich. Dieter Stauder (CEIPI and EPA) reported on the education and the career opportunities of patent attorneys. Adolf Dietz (MPI), Silke von Lewinski (MPI and Franklin Pierce Law Center) and Oliver Schwenzer (Bertelsmann/arvato mobile) gave lectures from differing perspectives with regard to “Current Trends in Copyright Law”. On July 14 and 15, 2006 the third meeting took place. From a practitioner’s point of view, Klaus Oppermann (VW) and Wulf Höflich (AIRBUS) gave an account of current IP topics from the perspective of their companies.
On July 14 and 15, 2006 the third meeting took place. From a practitioner’s point of view, Klaus Oppermann (VW) and Wulf Höflich (AIRBUS) gave an account of current IP topics from the perspective of their companies.
The fourth ALUMNI meeting took place in Munich on 15th and 16th of June, 2007. Dr. Stefan Bechtold, J.S.M. (Stanford), fellow at the MPI for research on collective goods, Bonn, elaborated on current topics of the economic analysis of law in the field of intellectual property. Prof. Dr. Straus, Director at the institute, gave a presentation on current topics in International and European patent law. Both presentations were followed by a lively discussion. The next ALUMNI meeting will take place on September 26th/27th, 2008 in Munich.
The ALUMNI gathered for their fifth meeting on 26th and 27th September, 2008. After an informal get-together at the “Wirtshaus zur Au”, the members met at the Institute on Saturday. Prof. Dr. Ansgar Ohly, LL.M., Univeritsy of Bayreuth, spoke on “How far does trade mark protection reach? Criticism, parody and keyword advertising from a European perspective”. The presentation of Dr. Alexander von Mühlendahl, LL.M., former vice president of the OHIM, Alicante, also focused on current topics of trade mark law. The final talk presented by Dr. Jürgen Schade, former president of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office was dedicated to the subject of “Synergy through international cooperation in patent law”.
The next meeting will take place in Munich on the 10th and 11th of July, 2009.
The agendas of the mentioned events can be found here.