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Women in IP - Rostock

The Rostock Patent and Standards Center - the first point of contact for female founders in M-V

What nobody would suspect - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the state of female founders. In no other federal state is the proportion of female start-ups higher than in M-V. This is shown by an analysis of commercial register entries from 2021 by the Ifo Institute. 21.3% of all start-ups in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were founded by women. In Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein and Bremen, on the other hand, the figure was less than 15 percent (Die Zeit 11/23).

The externer Link Patent and Standards Center (PNZ), which is located at the Rostock University Library, is the first port of call for advice on patents, trademarks and the like for founders. For more than 30 years, we have been supporting all interested parties, not just members and students of universities in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with searches and training on industrial property rights. We are a source of knowledge for research projects and an important competitive aid for companies.

We teach information literacy and show how to use free databases of the DPMA. Together with our users, we explore how they can make the best use of their intellectual property potential. This consultation can result in the development of an IP strategy. In cooperation with the Chamber of Patent Attorneys, we also offer free initial advice from the regional patent attorneys.

The PNZ Rostock is also the only standards information point in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The current DIN standards can be viewed here free of charge by all interested parties.

After "Ata" comes "Beeta" - sustainable cleaning

In GDR times, Ilona Parsch managed a village shop. After reunification, she was happy to get a job as a cleaner in the region. When the cleaning company wanted to close the site again, Ilona Parsch founded her own company and - in addition to her job and raising children - also completed her master's degree. However, there was one problem: she and her employees were becoming increasingly allergic to the aggressive chemical cleaners.

So she started researching acidic plants and looking for organically produced oxalic acid - without chlorine and other toxins. Rhubarb, sugar beet and beet came into question. She quickly discarded rhubarb because, according to a patent search at the Rostock Patent Information Center, it was already minimally contained in a cleaner from the Henkel company. Tests with sugar beet produced a black broth - which would have been unsaleable. Beet, on the other hand, was a direct hit: Ilona Parsch developed a gentle natural cleaning agent in her home kitchen and called it "Beeta". The name does not come from the red power beet, but is an allusion to the scouring agent "Ata" known in the GDR. Because after "Ata" comes "Beeta".

Her son Thomas Parsch, who studied industrial engineering for cleaning and hygiene technology, developed and optimized the beet recipes in a joint research project at the University of Rostock and then set up his own company. In the meantime, her son Hannes Parsch completed his master's degree in the building cleaning trade.

Ilona Parsch handed over the commercial cleaning company to her sons Thomas and Hannes Parsch as part of the succession plan in September 2021. Ilona Parsch continues to be fascinated by the cleaning power of the red tuber and now passes on her knowledge in schools.

Former master building cleaner and entrepreneur, now in well-deserved "retirement"
Ilona Parsch

"Cleaning is always necessary. That's why I'm particularly pleased to be able to pass on my knowledge of beet to the younger generation. Schoolchildren in particular are very interested in cleaning their homes or bicycles naturally. And you live healthier and feel better. And the whole thing is also more environmentally friendly and sustainable."

Further information on the website beeta.eu

IP applications/IP rights

  • including patent EP 1288285 B1 "Aqueous cleaning agent from a natural product" (expired due to time lapse)
  • Trademarks DE 303358831 and DE 3020162126527 "Beeta"

More hope for curative therapies for kidney disease

In Europe, ten percent of adults already suffer from chronic kidney disease; worldwide, up to 17 percent of the population suffers from kidney disease. As there is currently no curative therapy, organ failure is often the end result, which can only be compensated for by lifelong dialysis or a transplant. A spin-off from the University and University Medicine Greifswald aims to change this: In 2017, Prof. Dr. Nicole Endlich and Dr. Florian Siegerist published the so-called "PEMP procedure", for which the University of Greifswald has filed international patent applications in Europe, the USA, Japan and Korea, among others. The process has also already won several awards. The PEMP (Podocyte Exact Morphology Measurement Procedure) uses 3D-structured light microscopy to detect the smallest changes in the kidney quantitatively and faster than before. In research, this can contribute significantly to the development of drugs against kidney diseases.

In order to establish the procedure on the market, Professor Endlich and her son Tim founded "NIPOKA GmbH" as a spin-off of the University of Greifswald in September 2019. The university supports innovative spin-offs from its university inventors by providing intellectual property rights.

Professor Dr.
Nicole Endlich

"We are very happy that we were able to take over the patent application from the University of Greifswald, as this opens up many new opportunities for the company. The team is convinced that the transfer from research to industry can be accomplished. PEMP is a revolutionary process that will be used worldwide in research and also later in the clinic."

weitere Informationen auf der Internetseite des Instituts für Anatomie und Zellbiologie (uni-greifswald.de)

IP applications/IP rights

  • inter alia EP 3396380 B1 "Diagnostic tool for determining the loss of podocyte foot processes"

  • DE 102015102445 B3 "Method and test kit for analyzing potential active substances for the treatment of kidney diseases"

Revolutionizing the insurance industry from MV

Why does insurance always have to be so complicated? The story of "hepster" began with this question and a chance meeting at the Wirtschaftsjunioren in 2015. It was there that Hanna Bachmann met her two co-founders Christian and Alexander, who had already been working as entrepreneurs in the insurance industry for many years. At this point, the idea of situational insurance cover was already born.

Support for start-ups in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was also crucial to the company's success: The first money and thus the external validation of the idea and initial business plan then came from the "Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MBMV)". MBMV invested a mid-six-figure sum in "hepster" at a time when there was still no sign of digitalization in the insurance industry. Today, the start-up works with companies from all sectors that offer needs-oriented and individual insurance policies. The "hepster" team now consists of over 100 employees from 13 nations.

Founding member of "hepster"
Hanna Bachmann

My tip for founders in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Take advantage of the many advisory and contact points that have now been established. The "Gründungswerft" for general networking of the start-up scene in the state, "Accelerate: MV" for coaching and support in developing your own business idea, "Nova Campus" for finding suitable staff and, of course, the "MBMV" for initial financing. These are just four examples. Even after seven years, we still have close contacts with most of the players in the country and support each other in many ways. Especially in a state like Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is sparsely populated with people and companies, it is important to seek contact and exchange ideas with other entrepreneurs and to make use of their networks and knowledge.

Further information on the "Gründungswerft" website

IP applications/IP rights

  • Trademarks DE3020162235237, EM 018721930, EM018740674, EM 015757388, EM 018923946 "Hepster"/"hepster"

You can view all property right documents in DPMAregister.

Last updated: 24 April 2024