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CVs of DPMA top management

The German Patent and Trade Mark Office is headed by the President, the two Vice-Presidents as well as the Heads of the four Directorates General.

President

Eva Schewior

Eva Schewior has been President of the German Patent and Trademark Office since February 1, 2023.

Schewior studied law at the University of Mannheim. From 1993 to 1994, she spent a year studying at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree. In this context, she dealt, among other things, with U.S. and international patent law.

Ms. Schewior completed her legal clerkship in the district of the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court. After her second state examination, she joined the Federal Ministry of Justice in 1994 and passed through several stations as a legal advisor. During a secondment to the Permanent Representation of Germany to the European Union in Brussels, she was responsible for civil law dossiers, including intellectual property law. In 2004, she was appointed head of unit and initially worked in the administration of justice. Later, she moved to the unit in charge of legal issues related to new technologies in the natural sciences and bioethics. In 2010, she assumed responsibility for the administrative affairs of the German Patent and Trademark Office, the Federal Patent Court and the European Patent Office.

In 2015 until January 2023, Schewior headed a unit in the BMJV in the law of obligations with a focus on banking law. Her work focused on the negotiation of directives in the European Union and their subsequent transposition into German law.

In addition, Schewior was a member of the Administrative Council of the Examination Office of the Federal Chamber of Notaries for the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection from mid-2020 to January 2023.

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Vice-President

Bernd Maile

Since 1 June 2021, Bernd Maile has been Vice-President of the DPMA.

From 1982 to 1989, he studied physics at the University of Tübingen (Eberhard Karls Universität) and the University of Stuttgart. Then, he completed a postgraduate distance learning course in economics at the FernUniversität in Hagen (degree: Diplom-Wirtschaftsphysiker), which he pursued parallel to work.

From 1990 to 2000, Bernd Maile worked as a development engineer, project manager and head of a manufacturing division at several German and US companies in the telecommunications and semiconductor industries.

In 2000, he joined the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, where he worked as a patent examiner and group leader in the field of semiconductor technology until 2007.

In the seven years that followed, Bernd Maile was a judge at two technical boards of appeal of the Federal Patent Court, a nullity board and the board of appeal for utility model cancellations. From 2011 onwards, he also fulfilled the duties of Data Protection Officer of the Federal Patent Court and headed a working group for prospective patent attorneys (opposition proceedings and opposition appeal proceedings).

In 2013, he returned to the German Patent and Trade Mark Office and headed a patent division that focused on medical technology and sub-fields of electrical engineering. During that time, he was a member of the examination board for patent attorneys. In 2019, he was appointed as Head of the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models".

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Vice-President

Dr Maria Skottke-Klein

Dr Skottke-Klein studied chemistry at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and did her doctorate at the Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, where she subsequently worked as a research fellow.

In 1991, she joined the DPMA as a patent examiner, a position she held until 1999; moreover, Dr Skottke-Klein took on tasks as a project leader at the Directorate General "Information". From 2000 to 2004, she was Head of Section (program management). In 2004, she returned to patent examination and was Senior Officer for Classification and Documentation and a group leader.

In 2012, Dr Skottke-Klein became Head of a patent division and four years later Head of the cluster "Chemistry, Medical Engineering, Patent Administration and Utility Models". In 2021, she became Head of the Directorate General "Information" and one year later Head of the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models".

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Head of the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models"

Dr Bernd Läßiger

Born in 1961 in Munich, two daughters

1980 Abitur (university entrance qualification) in Gräfelfing

1982 – 1984 studied General Physics at the University of Stuttgart (undergraduate degree)

1984 – 1989 studied Technical Physics at the Technical University of Munich; degree: Diplom-Physiker

1989 – 1994 doctorate in science (Dr. rer. nat.) and project engineer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology in Aachen

1994 – 2000 worked as a sales engineer and head of an application centre at a Canadian and several German companies for laser technology

2000 – 2013 examiner at patent division 1.51 (Optics, Acoustics) of the DPMA

2013 – 2015 group leader of patent division 1.56 (Measuring, Controlling in Automotive Engineering, Traffic Management and Control Systems) and assistant to the Head of the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models"

2015 – 2018 Head of division 1.1 (Patent and Utility Model Administration)

2015 – 2021 founding member and head of the DG1-IT coordination

2018 – 2021 Head of patent division 1.27 (Printing, Packaging, Paper, Refrigeration)

2021 – 2022 Head of cluster 1.40 (Chemistry, Medical Engineering, Patent Administration, Utility Models)

2022 – 2025 Head of the Directorate General "Information"

Since 13 January 2025 Head of the Directorate General "Patents and Utility Models"

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Head of the Directorate General "Information"

Robert Lemperle

Born in Oberndorf am Neckar in 1965, two adult children

1984 Abitur (university entrance qualification) in Baden-Württemberg

1984 – 1985 military service

1985 – 1991 studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Stuttgart

1992 – 1999 worked as a development and project engineer on the Transrapid maglev train

1999 – 2010 examiner at patent division 1.34 (General Electrical Engineering) of the DPMA

2010 – 2014 group leader at patent division 1.34 (General Electrical Engineering)

2012 – 2014 Secondment to the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection

2015 – 2016 Head of patent division 1.31 (Communication Technique)

2016 – 2025 Deputy Director General Patents and Utility Models – Electrical Engineering (1.30)

Since 13 January 2025 appointed to perform the duties of Head of the Directorate General "Information"

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Head of the Directorate General "Trade Marks and Designs"

Katharina Mirbt

Born in 1966 in Gehrden (Lower Saxony), two adult children
Attended schools in several regions of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony

1985 Abitur (university entrance qualification) in Lower Saxony

1985 – 1986 au pair in Portland/Oregon, USA

1986 – 1991 studied law in Göttingen, Lower Saxony

1991 – 1994 trainee lawyer in Kassel, Hesse

1994 – 1995 worked as a lawyer in Kassel, Hesse

1995 – 1997 coordination unit for staff representation matters at the DPMA

1997 – 1998 parental leave

1998 – 1999 Head of section (employees and employee and civil servant salaries) in the Personnel Division of the DPMA

2000 – 2001 parental leave

2001 – 2002 legal examiner in the trade mark area at the DPMA

2002 – 2006 Head of section (organisation, personnel and administration) in the trade mark area at the DPMA

2007 Head of a trade mark examination team at the DPMA

2007 – 2022 Head of a trade mark division (including four examination teams, the organisation, personnel and administration section of the trade mark area and the IT coordination of the trade mark area); Deputy Head of Directorate General "Trade Marks and Designs"

2022 – 2023 Head of the Directorate General "Administration and Law"

Since 15 October 2023 Head of the Directorate General "Trade Marks and Designs"

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Head of the Directorate General "Administration and Law"

Marion Kreß

Born in 1974 in Obernburg am Main

1994 Abitur (university entrance qualification) in Bavaria

1994 – 1996 Commercial apprenticeship at Hoechst AG in Frankfurt am Main

1996 – 2001 studied law in Constance and Lausanne

2002 – 2004 Legal clerkship at the Bamberg Higher Regional Court

2005 Joined the German Patent and Trade Mark Office

2005 – 2008 Coordination Unit for staff representation matters at the DPMA, Directorate General "Administration and Law"

2008 – 2011 Secondment to the Federal Ministry of Justice. Officer in Division ZA1 (higher civil service personnel)

2011 – 2013 legal examiner in the trade mark area of the Directorate General "Trade Marks and Designs"

2013 – 2018 Head of Unit 3.3.6 (incoming mail processing, cross-brand trade mark administration matters) of the Directorate General "Trade Marks and Designs"

2018 – 2020 Head of Unit 4.2.1 (Budget and Payment Transactions) of the Directorate General "Administration and Law"

2020 – 2024 Head of Division 4.2 (Budget, Organization, Internal Services) and Chief Financial Officer

Since 22 May 2024 Head of the Directorate General "Administration and Law"

Pictures: DPMA

Last updated: 15 May 2025