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Alexander von Mühlendahl wins award for his lifetime achievement
The “WTR Industry Award” recognizes outstanding work carried out by trademark counsel, and identifies the teams and individuals that are performing their functions to the highest possible standards. Each year, on occasion of the Annual Meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA), the “World Trademark Review” (WTR) presents the annual WTR Industry Awards at an exclusive champagne reception. This year’s ceremony was held at The Harvard Club of Boston on the evening of Tuesday May 25, 2010.
The final award presented on the night is for Alexander von Mühlendahl’s “Lifetime Achievement”, as the only award open to candidates who are not in-house counsel. This is the first time WTR has awarded an individual in private practice in the trademark field.
Before joining the ranks of BARDEHLE PAGENBERG, Alexander von Mühlendahl, Dr. iur, JD, LL.M. (Northwestern) served as vice president of OHIM where he supervised the introduction of the Community Trademark and the Community Design in the EU. Earlier in his career, at the German Ministry of Justice, he was responsible for drafting the reformed German Trademark Act after reunification. In his current capacity as attorney-at-law, he frequently represents the firm’s clients before the European and German courts. Alexander is an active member of INTA, ECTA and a number of other intellectual property associations.
On November 24, 2009, a discussion on the amendment of claims took place in the framework of a series of seminars entitled “Münchner Patentgespräch” (“Munich Patent Talk”).
Judges from the German Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Patent Court, the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office and the civil courts as well as representatives from industry and the Bar were informed by Dr. Jochen Pagenberg about the latest developments of the project of a European system of patent courts (... more).
On October 23, 2009 a lecture was held at the John Marshall Law School’s Center for Intellectual Property Law, Chicago, titled “Diverging Standards in European and American Trademark and Copyright law”. Several members of Bardehle Pagenberg participated as speakers; below are some excerpts of the program:
"Protection of Famous and Well-Known Marks (Including Trademark Dilution and Other Issues Related to Reputational Harm)"
Dr. Jochen Pagenberg, Bardehle Pagenberg, Munich, Germany
"Three-Dimension Marks (Including Trade Dress)"
Dr. Henning Hartwig, Bardehle Pagenberg, Munich, Germany
“American Trademark Law — A European Perspective”
Dr. Alexander von Mühlendahl, Bardehle Pagenberg, Munich, Germany
"Geographic Indicators (Including Trademark and Sui Generis Protections)"
Dr. Alexander von Mühlendahl, Bardehle Pagenberg, Munich, Germany
"Copyright Problems on the Internet (Including Piracy, Regulatory Issues, and Industry Responses such as Take-Down Practices)"
Dr. Christof Karl, Bardehle Pagenberg, Munich, Germany
On July 17, 2009 BARDEHLE PAGENBERG held a Symposium on the “EC Pharma Sector Inquiry” and possible impacts on IP Law. Outstanding experts both from industry and academia gathered as speakers and panellists, including Josef Drexl (Max-Planck-Institute, Munich), Thomas Porstner (ProGenerika, Berlin), David Rosenberg (GlaxoSmithKline, London) and Hanns Ullrich (Munich). Members of the EPO and the GPTO, judges from the German Federal Patent Court and German civil courts as well as IP practitioners from industry and law firms attended and contributed to a most valuable and controversial discussion.
In 2008, the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission, concerned about the decreasing number of novel medicines and about the time generic pharmaceuticals take to reach the market after expiry of the patent, launched an inquiry in the pharmaceutical sector. In its preliminary report published in November 2008, DG Competition voiced concerns that the European patent system impedes innovation and unduly delays the market entry of generic products. The final report was only published on July 8, 2009.
The Symposium held a few days later offered a timely forum to discuss this report and DG Competition’s approach to intervene in patent matters. The presentations and discussions did not question the basic assumptions of delayed market entry of generic medicines and the tendency of decline of novel medicines. Rather, criticism focused on DG Competition’s suspicion that this was caused by patent applications and patent enforcement and DG Competition’s lack to examine the causal interplay. It was also criticized to call upon anti-trust law in order to control and restrict the application for and enforcement of IP rights. However, the presentations and discussions revealed that not all practices involving patent application and enforcement can be considered as appropriate practices and that anti-trust law might correctly be applied for settlement agreements providing “reverse payments” from the owner of the original product to the defendant for keeping the generic product out of the market. BARDEHLE PAGENBERG will publish a book documenting the “EC Pharma Sector Inquiry” Symposium, being the second Symposium after last year’s “Stem Cell Research”, in a series of expert discussions on topics of public interest.
Program
Moderators: Dr. Stefan Abel, Attorney-at-Law, Bardehle Pagenberg, Munich,
Dr. Thomas Friede, Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney, Bardehle Pagenberg, Munich
13:30 “A Summary of the Sector Inquiry and View of the Generic Companies and Associations”, Thomas Porstner, EGA
14:00 “Reverse Payments in Litigation Settlements”, Prof. Dr. Josef Drexl, MPI, Munich
14:30 “Maintaining Competition within the System of Intellectual Property Rights”, Prof. Dr. Hanns Ullrich, Munich
15:00 “A View of the Research-based Industry”, David Rosenberg, GlaxoSmithKline, London
15:30 Break
16:00 Panel and audience discussion (until 18:30)
19:30 Reception with dinner and classical music
In the framework of INTA 2009 in Seattle, the magazine World Trademark Review has awarded the IP Team of BMW with the WTR Industry Awards 2009. The photo shows Jochen Pagenberg handing the Award in the Category "Automotive & Aviation Team of the Year" to Jochen Volkmer of BMW.
