Team

Dipl.-Ing. Benjamin Merkel

Patentanwalt
European Patent Attorney
European Trademark and Design Attorney
Dienstleistender Patentanwalt vor dem Österreichischen Patentamt

Benjamin Merkel studied nanostructure technology at the University of Würzburg and the University of Toronto with a focus on electronics, photonics and biophysical applications.

After graduating, he worked at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research, inter alia, on a project to produce a bioresorbable implant. Mr. Merkel has been working in the field of intellectual property rights since 2010. As part of his training as a patent attorney and in addition to the mandatory training programs, he completed a traineeship in a law firm specialised in intellectual property rights in Singapore. Mr. Merkel focuses on intellectual property rights in the fields of physics, mobile electronics and mechanical engineering.

Mr. Merkel is a member of the German Chamber of Patent Attorneys, the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI), the Federal Association of German Patent Attorneys and the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR).

Dipl.-Ing. Bernhard Boniberger

Patentanwalt
European Patent Attorney
European Trademark and Design Attorney

Bernhard Boniberger studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich with a focus on automotive engineering, product development and production technology. In his diploma thesis he dealt with the logistic and material flow-technical connection of manufacturing plants in China in cooperation with a large German construction machinery company.

Mr. Boniberger has been working in the field of intellectual property rights since 2007. As part of his training as a patent attorney and in addition the mandatory training programs, he completed a two-month traineeship at the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf which specialises in patent litigation and a traineeship in a law firm specialised in intellectual property rights in New York.

In addition to drafting and obtaining technical IP rights in application proceedings in the fields of semiconductor technology, optics, LED lighting systems, capsule-based beverage preparation systems, packaging and food technology as well as medical technology, Mr. Boniberger has extensive experience in defending and enforcing IP rights, in particular in opposition and appeal proceedings, as well as in cross-border infringement and nullity proceedings. Another focus of his practice is the preparation of freedom-to-operate analyses during the development process.

Mr. Boniberger is a member of the German Chamber of Patent Attorneys, the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR), the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) and the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).

Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Reiner Vötsch

Patentanwalt
European Patent Attorney
European Trademark and Design Attorney

Reiner Vötsch studied mechanical engineering at the Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences with a focus on power and working machines as well as aerodynamics.

Mr. Vötsch headed a central office of the patent department of Robert Bosch GmbH and a patent department of Valeo.

He works as a German and European Patent Attorney and deals with enforcement of patent and trademark law, infringement proceedings, licensing and with questions regarding the Inventor Incentive Act. His work focuses on patent matters in the fields of automotive technologies, packaging technologies as well as general mechanical engineering.

Mr. Vötsch is a member of the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (EPI) and of the German Chamber of Patent Attorneys.

Eugen Tuchscherer

Rechtsanwalt
Fachanwalt für gewerblichen Rechtschutz

Eugen Tuchscherer studied law at the Moscow State Academy of Law and at the Universities of Würzburg and Mainz. He initially worked as a lawyer for law firms in Wiesbaden and Frankfurt am Main with a focus on the drafting of contracts as well as on German and international private law. Since 2006, Mr. Tuchscherer has focused on intellectual property rights. As a specialised lawyer for intellectual property rights, he deals with national and international applications of intellectual property rights, in particular trademarks and designs. Another area of expertise is the extrajudicial and judicial enforcement of technical and non-technical property rights.

Mr. Tuchscherer is a member of the Bar Council of Frankfurt am Main, the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR) and the Association for German-Russian Business Law (VDRW).

Sabrina Hirt

Attorney-at-law

Sabrina Hirt studied law at the University of Konstanz and completed her legal traineeship in the district of the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe.

Prior to joining our law firm, Ms. Hirt worked in the legal department of a German world market leader for building materials and in the design engineering department of a large Swiss energy provider.

As an attorney-at-law, Ms. Hirt complements the comprehensive legal advice of our law firm in the field of intellectual property rights. In this process, Ms. Hirt advises our clients on trademark, design and competition law as well as on civil law issues, including contract law and the drafting of contracts. She focuses on the extrajudicial and judicial enforcement of trademark, copyright and competition law claims as well as on the advice of applicants on German and international trademark law, in particular also in the representation in proceedings before the Trademark Office of the European Union (European Union Intellectual Property Office EUIPO).

Ms. Hirt is a member of the Bar Council of Freiburg.

Dipl.-Biol. Dr. rer. nat. Christiane Katja Schwager

Patentanwältin
European Patent Attorney
European Trademark and Design Attorney

Dr. Christiane Katja Schwager studied biology at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen. After graduating University, she received, among others, a PhD scholarship and gained her PhD in the field of bioinformatics and genome research at the Center for Biotechnology at Bielefeld University. Her PhD studies have been complemented by grant-aided research periods at the University of California, Berkeley. Furthermore, Dr. Schwager is author and co-author of several scientific publications.

In 2011, Dr. Schwager started her career in industrial property rights. In addition to the obligatory training stages as part of her training as a patent attorney she completed a two-month internship at the 7^th Civil Chamber of the Mannheim District Court, which is specialized in industrial property rights. Her area of expertise comprises the prosecution, enforcement and defense of industrial property rights, in particular in the field of biotechnological, medical engineering and technical engineering patents and utility models.

Dr. Schwager is a member of the German Chamber of Patent Attorneys (Patentanwaltskammer), the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) and the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (EPI).

Dr. Oliver Schneider

Patentanwalt
European Patent Attorney
European Trademark and Design Attorney

Dr. Oliver Schneider studied chemistry and biology at the University of Regensburg and worked as a research assistant at the institute for organic chemistry at the University of Regensburg. Dr. Schneider also worked for the clinical department of AstraZeneca in Hamburg.

He has extensive experience in patent matters in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacy, mechanics and mechanical engineering. His work in these fields focuses on the enforcement of patents and utility models including opposition and nullity proceedings as well as licensing. In addition, Dr. Schneider has vast experience in the fields of trademark and design law.

Dr. Schneider is a member of the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (EPI), the German Chamber of Patent Attorneys and the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI).

Dipl.-Ing., Dr.rer.pol. Peter Kurz

German and Swiss Patent Attorney
European Patent Attorney
European Trademark and Design Attorney

Dr. Peter Kurz studied electrical engineering at the University of Stuttgart with a focus on biomedical technology and control engineering. He wrote his diploma thesis in collaboration with a company in the medical technology sector in which he then worked as a development engineer for several years.

After the training in the field of intellectual property in a law firm of patent attorneys, he worked in the industry. Among other projects, he managed the European patent department of Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies, first in Germany and then in Switzerland. During this period, he wrote his dissertation on the German law of employee inventions.

His work focuses on the prosecution and defense of technical IP rights in the fields of medical technology, semiconductor technology, measuring technology and computer technology including program-related inventions. Another focus of his practice is the technical contract administration including license agreements as well as confidentiality agreements and commercial secrecy.

Dr. Kurz has written the books “Vertraulichkeitsvereinbarungen und andere Vorfeldverträge” (4th edition Cologne 2019; translation: Confidentiality agreements and other preliminary contracts) and “Weltgeschichte des Erfindungsschutzes” (Cologne 2000; translation: History of the protection of inventions) and regularly publishes articles in the magazine “Mitteilungen der deutschen Patentanwälte” (translation: Communications of the German patent attorneys). Additionally, he gives lectures at the event organizers “Forum” and “Management Circle” and worked as a lecturer at the ETH Zurich for several years.

Dr. Kurz is a member of the German Chamber of Patent Attorneys, the Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office, the professional associations VPP, VIPS and VESPA in Germany and Switzerland. He is also a professional representative before the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE).

Dr. Peter Reichert

Patentprofessional/Patentanwaltskandidat

Dr. Peter Reichert studied mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart and the ETH Zurich with a focus on structural mechanics, fiber-reinforced plastics and measuring methods for non-destructive testing.

As a research associate at the ETH Zurich, he worked on the development of microchips for “Lab-On-A-Chip” applications with a focus on clean room fabrication, the use of piezoelectric actuators for acoustic cell manipulation, in particular in biological applications.

Mr. Reichert joined our law firm in 2020 and as a candidate he is involved, among other things, in the drafting of patent and utility model applications and in conducting and evaluating prior art searches in the context of his training as a patent attorney.

Laura-Sophia Ruppert

Patent Professional/Patent Attorney Candidate

Laura-Sophia Ruppert studied Molecular Biology at the Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg with a focus on population genetics and bioinformatics.

As a research assistant, she worked on the development and optimization of genetic methods using degraded and contaminated DNA samples with the aim of applying them to ecological field samples as part of a project investigating the effectiveness of conservation measures in forestry.

Ms. Ruppert joined our firm in 2023 and, as a candidate in the training program for patent attorneys, is involved, among other things, in drafting patent and utility model applications as well as in carrying out and evaluating prior art searches. Her main fields of activity are medical technology, mechanical engineering, biotechnology and molecular biology.

Kornelius Luther

Kornelius Luther studied mechanical engineering and mechatronics at the University of Applied Sciences Konstanz and the Southern Taiwan University of Technologies in Taiwan. He wrote his master’s thesis in product management for the company J. Wagner GmbH in Markdorf, Germany, in the context of which he dealt with the investigation of possible robot applications in powder coating.

Mr. Luther joined the firm in May 2023 as a patent engineer and supports our attorney team in conducting and evaluating prior art searches and drafting patent and utility model applications. His main areas of expertise are mechanics and mechatronics, process engineering, optics and materials science.

Kira Dreide

Kira Dreide is a paralegal with several years of professional experience and has also successfully completed her studies as a patent clerk at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.

Ms. Dreide supports the team as office manager and works closely with our patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law to ensure that all processes run smoothly. With her extensive expertise and dedication to legal details, she supports our attorneys in providing first-class service to our clients.

Reshani Lutterbeck

Reshani Lutterbeck joined our firm in 2019, has successfully completed her studies to become a patent consultant at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, is a certified business economist and also holds a training certificate according to AEVO.

She supports the team as a clerk as well as a deputy office manager and brings in her high precision and organizational talent to ensure an optimal support of our clients in close cooperation with our lawyers.

Nora Salman

Nora Salman studied law at the University of Constance and at the University of Rotterdam, specializing in labor law and collective bargaining law. She graduated with the first state examination in law.

As a legal assistant, Ms. Salman supports our patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law in particular in civil and trademark law issues, as well as in contract law matters. She is known for her dedication to the needs of our clients, her attention to detail, and her ability to present complex legal issues in an understandable and concise manner.