Tech giants set up shop in Munich - Europe's answer to Silicon Valley?

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Arguably best known for its annual Oktoberfest celebrations, Germany’s third largest city which was also voted the world’s most liveable in 2018 is fast becoming Europe’s answer to Silicon Valley and here’s why...

  1. Munich is a global hub for Google in terms of privacy engineering, research and product development. The tech giant is currently in the process of redeveloping the historic Arnulfpost building which should be completed in 2024 and will provide office space for 1500 employees taking its total Munich workforce to over 3000.

  2. Apple is making Munich its European Silicon Design Centre. The Bavarian capital already boasts Apple’s largest engineering hub in Europe with 1,500 engineers and this new centre will be home to Apple’s growing cellular unit, and Europe’s largest R&D site for mobile wireless semiconductors and software.

  3. IBM’s Watson IoT Global Headquarters are based in Munich. The centre cost $200 million to build, employs around 1,000 engineers and provides an opportunity for industrial partners to understand the Watson IoT Platform. BMW and Siemens AG are just two companies to have research teams based on the site.

  4. Munich is well connected to big industry being home to the global headquarters of several renowned multinational companies including Siemens AG (electronics), BMW (automotive), MAN AG (automotive), MTU Aero Engines (aerospace), Linde (chemicals) and Rohde & Schwarz (electronics).

  5. Munich is highly innovation-focused with over 1,300 start-ups creating an estimated collective value of over 17 billion euros since 2013. This accounts for 11% of all start-ups in Germany and Munich’s government provides support for new ventures at every stage of development.

  6. Microsoft and Amazon both have their German headquarters in Munich. Amazon Web Services also recently opened a new office in Munich home to around 2,500 employees including account managers, marketing and sales teams, solutions architects, partner managers and professional services consultants.

As in any thriving innovation hub, competition for market dominance will be fierce and hence companies both small and large should be looking to protect their intellectual property.

From our Munich office we offer the full range of patent, trade mark and design services, including drafting, prosecution, oppositions and appeals, dispute resolution, IP strategy consulting and portfolio management.  The Munich team work closely and effectively with UK based colleagues to ensure our clients benefit from the entire depth and breadth of expertise available within Mewburn Ellis.

We offer a 'one-stop shop' for filing and prosecuting UK and German national patent applications. Our integrated way of working means that our clients benefit greatly from our UK and German attorneys working closely with one another on related cases across the portfolio. On the one hand, our integrated approach leads to appreciable cost benefits for our clients, resulting from streamlined advice and simpler lines of communication. On the other hand, it leads to a more harmonised approach in the management of their UK and German patent portfolios, which ultimately strengthens our clients’ IP position in the marketplace.

 

Software Inventions: UKIPO and EPO approaches to patent eligibility

Our Special Report takes a close look at whether the European Patent Office and the UK Intellectual Property Office handle software inventions differently. It also reveals some strategic insights that we think will be of benefit to companies seeking patent protection for software inventions in the UK and Europe.

Download the Report
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Toby Hill

Toby is a patent attorney in our engineering and ICT team. He assists with patent drafting and prosecution before the UKIPO, EPO and USPTO as well as large-scale freedom to operate (FTO) projects including patent landscaping and competitor awareness. Toby works with a range of clients in the UK, Europe, the US and Japan. They include consumer electronics companies, multinational engineering conglomerates and SMEs. Toby has an engineering degree from the University of Cambridge. His master’s research project was based at the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction (CSIC) and involved the development of a new vibration serviceability assessment device using prototype, ultra-low noise accelerometers. Toby's areas of expertise are aerosol-generating devices, patent data processing and visualisation and computer-implemented inventions (CIIs).

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We have an easily-accessible office in central London, as well as a number of regional offices throughout the UK and an office in Munich, Germany. We’d love to hear from you, so please get in touch.

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