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Day of Industrial property rights 2025 in Stuttgart

Impulses for IP protection and a national IP strategy

On 16 July 2025, the Patent and Trade Mark Centre Baden-Württemberg hosted the Day of Industrial Property Rights in Stuttgart. Experts from businesses, law firms, administration and research came together to share their practical experience and discuss current developments as well as strategic perspectives for the protection of innovations.

Heading towards a national IP strategy

The panel discussion between Eva Schewior, President of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, and Helmut Jahnke, Head of the Baden-Württemberg Patent and Trade Mark Centre was about, among other things, the planned national IP strategy included in the coalition agreement of the German Federal Government. It is supposed to help link innovation protection more closely with economic and research policy structures, facilitate access to IP rights and better coordinate existing support services. As part of the strategy, the patent information centres (PIZ) could be taking on an extended role in the future. As established regional contacts, they help small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups in particular to find their way around the IP rights system.

Eva Schewior also emphasised the role of intellectual property as an economic factor and pointed out the Office's responsibility to provide companies with information early on. In this context, President Schewior mentioned the current Information pages for SME. They provide detailed information on how SMEs can benefit from intellectual property rights with the right strategy.

Baden-Württemberg remains at the top of patent applications

The latest statistics on domestic patent applications confirm: Baden-Württemberg was able to further expand its leading role compared to other federal states. With growth of almost six percent, the state is well above the national average. Roughly 39 percent of all German patent applications now come from the south-west - first place in the ranking for the sixth time in a row.

Artificial intelligence in patent practice

Another topic of the panel discussion was the role of artificial intelligence in the innovation and examination process. AI replaces neither inventors nor patent examiners - AI remains a tool. However, it is clear that those who use AI in the invention process can work more efficiently while remaining inventors in the legal sense.

Work processes at the DPMA have also been supported by AI for several years now. One example is the so-called E-Klassifikator (e-classifier): it provides suggestions for the international patent classification for around 95 percent of the patent applications received each year - with a high hit rate. This allows the large number of applications to be distributed effectively among the examiner teams. In addition, examiners use AI-supported tools for semantic searches in patent databases. Another use case is the AI-supported translation of Asian patent literature. In 2023 alone, roughly 850 million pages were translated and integrated into the German system. These advances enable the Office to ensure examination quality even with increasing application numbers.

Expert articles on AI, piracy and brand protection

Experts highlighted various aspects of industrial property protection during the course of the event. Topics included patent piracy in China, strategies for protection of AI applications in mechanical engineering, the economic evaluation of patents, as well as the challenges of trade mark applications in international markets. An expert forum offered practical tips for the strategic handling of intellectual property.

The presentation slides will be made available on the Homepage of the Patent- and Trade Mark Centre Baden-Württemberg.

Picture 1 and 3: DPMA, Picture 2: Patent- und Markenzentrum Baden-Württemberg, Elisa Mauruschat

Last updated: 22 July 2025