Nicola Benz’s practice is focused on technology and life sciences transactions. She assists technology companies of all sizes, from start-ups to established players, as well as investors, suppliers and customers across a broad range of industries and sectors. Nicola Benz’s expertise covers outsourcing, licensing, joint ventures and collaborations and associated intellectual property issues. She also has considerable experience advising on all types of commercial contracts, competition and regulatory issues and data protection. Nicola Benz is recognised as a globally leading patent and technology licensing lawyer, as well as a leading practitioner in the field of intellectual property. Chambers Europe (2018) ranked her as leader in the fields of Intellectual Property and Life Science, and she was recommended in the 2018 edition of the Legal 500 EMEA for Intellectual Property as well as TMT matters. She has also been named as a thought leader for data law in the publication "Who's Who Legal 2018". Born in Scotland, Nicola obtained her law degree from the University of Edinburgh (LLB Hons) in 1997. She joined our firm as an associate in 2002 and became a partner in 2010. Since 2017 she has been the managing partner of our firm. Her working languages are English and German. Nicola is a member of the Zurich Bar Association, the International Trademark Association (INTA), the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and the International Technology Law Association (iTechLaw).
Cornelia Mattig specialises in data protection and intellectual property law, as well as corporate and commercial law issues. Cornelia Mattig joined Froriep as an associate in 2018. Before joining Froriep, Cornelia Mattig trained with firms in Ireland, Germany and Switzerland as well as at the District Court of March in the Canton of Schwyz. After she passed the Bar exam in the Canton of Schwyz, she worked as a notary public and lawyer in an accounting and auditing firm. She graduated from the University of Zurich with a Master of Law (Business Law) in 2014 before obtaining her LL.M. in European Law at Queen Mary University of London in 2017. She was admitted to the Bar in 2018. She also holds a Data Protection Officer Certificate from the University of Maastricht. Her working languages are German and English.
Max Schrems, an Austrian privacy activist, has brought yet another data protection case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The outcome of this case will be decisive for everyone who transfers data to non-EU countries. The decision in the case has the potential to force a wide range of businesses to make huge changes in their data management.
Topics: Corporate & Commercial , Data Protection , Intellectual Property
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Dany Vogel works as a patent attorney focusing on electrical, computer and information technologies. He has particular expertise in computer software which covers a broad spectrum including telecommunications, digital signal, image and information processing, medical and control engineering, cryptography, Blockchain, Fintech, and computer-implemented business methods.
Philip Kerpen works as a patent engineer focusing on physics, semi-conductor technology and computer and information technology, especially the areas of measurement and control engineering, cryptography, artificial intelligence, machine learning, neural networks and blockchain.
Software has become ubiquitous: it has reached almost all areas of industry and commerce. Artificial intelligence and machine learning in particular are game-changers – fueled by more data and faster hardware they show no signs of slowing down. Ever increasingly it is the software component of products and services which plays the decisive role in determining their success. In fact, a strong integration of software into your products can end up changing your business model.
The purpose of this blog post is to go through the part of the updated Guidelines of the European Patent Office (EPO) which relate to artificial intelligence and machine learning. The updated Guidelines will come into effect on the 1 November 2019 and they will be used by the EPO during the examination of patent applications. It is also our aim to bring across the basics of patenting AI inventions with some practical tips and strategies.
Topics: Intellectual Property , Artificial Intelligence
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Demian Stauber is working as attorney at law in the fields of intellectual property and ICT law. Contract drafting, litigation and transactions in all areas of intellectual property and ICT law are the core of Demian Stauber’s practice. Additionally, Demian is particularly experienced in unfair competition and in general contract law.
Alena Bach works as a European Patent Attorney with a focus on mechanical and electrical engineering. Her principal activities are in the area of energy engineering, measurement and control, fluid mechanics and Computer-Aided Design (CAD). Alena Bach studied mechanical engineering with an emphasis on aerospace applications at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. The further focus of her studies was thereby on aerodynamics and jet engines. This was followed by a PhD at the Technical University of Berlin on experimental fluid mechanics. Topic of the Dissertation was the active flow control for load regulations on modern wind turbines. Since December 2015, Alena Bach works for Rentsch Partner Ltd.
Looking through online advice on patents for startups, you may be confronted with a lot of contradictory articles and comments that make clear conclusions difficult, if not impossible. Amongst others, you will find comments to the effect that patents should not be a priority for startups because they are too expensive, and that they may instead be filed at a later stage - if at all - when it is clearer which product is likely to become a commercial success. Other comments may indicate that the grant of a patent is not guaranteed and that the associated financial risk is therefore too high.
Topics: Corporate & Commercial , Intellectual Property
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Matthias Städeli is a litigator in the areas of trademark and copyright law as well as unfair competition law. In addition to his broad expertise in the field of intellectual property right, he further practices in contract law and advertising law. He regularly represents clients in complex litigations before courts and administrative bodies. He advises clients on the development and management of IP rights and all related issues, including licensing and distribution. Matthias J. Staedeli graduated from Zürich University School of Law in 1989 and has been admitted to the Zürich and Swiss Bar since 1992. 1999 he graduated with distinction from Linz University, Austria and earned a Master Degree in Arts and Media Management (M.A.S.). From 2003 until 2004 he studied Intellectual Property at Boston University School of Law where he graduated as Master of Laws (LL.M., Concentration Intellectual Property). During 2004 he was trained at Harvard Law School and Suffolk University School of Law, Boston, in the field of negotiation and mediation.
In his work as a European Patent Attorney, Dr. Alfred Köpf focusses on biotechnology, organic chemistry, medical technology, process technology, and mechanics. Dr. Alfred Köpf studied Biology at the University of Bayreuth, Germany and wrote his Diploma Thesis on the Chemical Ecology of Anthraquinones in leaf beetles. He joined the Masters Program in Entomology/Agriculture at the Kansas State University as a Fulbright scholar and came to the ETH Zürich for his PhD thesis on molecular evolution. Before he started his academic career, Alfred Köpf worked for several years as a CNC-lathe-worker and gained thereby practical experience in mechanical engineering. He has been active since several years in the public discussion about patentability of biological inventions (AIPPI Switzerland (Q 150 und Q159), Science et Cité, LES). Since 2003 Dr. Alfred Köpf is lecturing on patents at the Department of Chemistry and applied Biosciences (D-CHAB) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zürich. In 2011, he was elected by the Swiss Parliament to become a non-permanent judge of the newly established Swiss Federal Patent Court.
On 19 May 2019, the Swiss electorate voted in favour of implementing the Swiss patent box. Tax advantages on income generated from intellectual property rights will become a valuable tool for companies in Switzerland to promote research and development activities and to generate added value in these areas.
Topics: Tax , Intellectual Property
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Nicola Benz’s practice is focused on technology and life sciences transactions. She assists technology companies of all sizes, from start-ups to established players, as well as investors, suppliers and customers across a broad range of industries and sectors. Nicola Benz’s expertise covers outsourcing, licensing, joint ventures and collaborations and associated intellectual property issues. She also has considerable experience advising on all types of commercial contracts, competition and regulatory issues and data protection. Nicola Benz is recognised as a globally leading patent and technology licensing lawyer, as well as a leading practitioner in the field of intellectual property. Chambers Europe (2018) ranked her as leader in the fields of Intellectual Property and Life Science, and she was recommended in the 2018 edition of the Legal 500 EMEA for Intellectual Property as well as TMT matters. She has also been named as a thought leader for data law in the publication "Who's Who Legal 2018". Born in Scotland, Nicola obtained her law degree from the University of Edinburgh (LLB Hons) in 1997. She joined our firm as an associate in 2002 and became a partner in 2010. Since 2017 she has been the managing partner of our firm. Her working languages are English and German. Nicola is a member of the Zurich Bar Association, the International Trademark Association (INTA), the Licensing Executives Society (LES) and the International Technology Law Association (iTechLaw).
Cornelia Mattig specialises in data protection and intellectual property law, as well as corporate and commercial law issues. Cornelia Mattig joined Froriep as an associate in 2018. Before joining Froriep, Cornelia Mattig trained with firms in Ireland, Germany and Switzerland as well as at the District Court of March in the Canton of Schwyz. After she passed the Bar exam in the Canton of Schwyz, she worked as a notary public and lawyer in an accounting and auditing firm. She graduated from the University of Zurich with a Master of Law (Business Law) in 2014 before obtaining her LL.M. in European Law at Queen Mary University of London in 2017. She was admitted to the Bar in 2018. She also holds a Data Protection Officer Certificate from the University of Maastricht. Her working languages are German and English.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has published guidelines on the use of processing of personal data necessary for the performance of a contract as a legal basis under Art. 6.1 lit. b General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The guidelines are now in the public consultation phase.
Topics: Data Protection , Intellectual Property
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