The annual conference of the INTA (International Trademark Association), which took place from 18 to 22 May 2024, in the US city of Atlanta, attracted exceptional interest again this year. More than 10,000 IP professionals met to exchange experiences and strengthen partnerships. Present on behalf of V.O. were patent attorney Jasper Groot Koerkamp, attorney-at-law Annelies de Bosch Kemper and trademark and design attorney Raquel Alvarez. They took full advantage of five days to meet peers from V.O.'s international network of fellow firms.

Intellectual property plays an important role, especially in an environment where the emphasis is so much on creating technological capabilities and solutions. That connects V.O. to Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). It is therefore obvious that V.O., long established at the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, also feels right at home on the TU/e university campus. We are present there at two different so-called 'meet the expert' locations, namely in building Disruptor and building Alpha. Students, start-ups and SMEs can come here with all their questions and ideas about patents and brands, among other things. We see the growth potential of technology companies and like to think along with them, in every stage of their life, from start-up to multinational.

Want to drop by? Feel free to make an appointment with patent attorneys Raimondo Cau and Matthijs Roelofs.

Patent attorney Philipp Reichl of the V.O. office in Munich attended the Spring conference of the German association for IP professionals VPP in Würzburg. The main topic of the conference was the use of artificial intelligence tools in the patent business. Different AI tools providers presented their products and their users joined in a panel discussion on the benefits and development of different AI solutions.

The second big topic was the development of the Unitary Patent system and its influence on the German national patent system, i.e. the German Patent Office and the German Federal Patent Court (Bundespatentgericht). Talks were presented on the development of the jurisdiction of the Unitary Patent Court (UPC) and the Bundespatentgericht. A particular topic was the new possibility of double patenting of German national application together with European patents under UPC In particular. This presents new filing strategies for which V.O. now also offers efficient cost models.

Further topics were new regulations in China for IP and data protection and NFTs in the trademark system

On behalf of V.O., Tamara Elmore and Bettina Hermann attended the BIO International Convention in San Diego from 3-6 June 2024. The BIO International Convention is the largest and most comprehensive annual event for biotechnology. It represents the entire biotechnology ecosystem with more than 20,000 industry leaders from around the world. More than 100 sessions are scheduled across 18 focus areas.