When can corporate lobbying be considered anti-competitive conduct under Articles 101 and 102 of the TFEU? This is the question Francisco E. Beneke Avila attempts to answer in his latest article.
All too often, forests are reduced to a single figure: the amount of CO₂ they store. However, a new review in Science, to which the Net Zero Lab contributed, shows that forests do much more than that. They help mitigate climate change by cooling the local environment, regulating water cycles, and improving human health and well-being. The effects vary depending on the environmental context, with important implications for forest management and climate adaptation strategies.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly determining the prices we are offered when shopping online. Klaus Wiedemann, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute, has examined what this means, which laws protect us, and where further regulation is needed.
Who governs public space when digital layers overlay it? This question is the focus of the expert workshop “Editable World – Law, Policy, and Governance in Phygital Realities,” which will take place on 5 and 6 November 2026 at the Institute.
Dominik Asam was awarded the “Steven Klepper Award for Best Young Scholar Paper” at DRUID26, which took place in Copenhagen from 8 to 10 June 2026. This award recognizes original and creative work by early-career researchers who address key issues in innovation. Dominik Asam investigated how open sourcing a frontier AI model affects downstream innovation.
At the 14th Annual Patent Conference (PatCon), held on 10 and 11 April 2026 at the University of Kansas School of Law (KU Law), Dietmar Harhoff was honored with the PatCon Extraordinary Achievement Award for his sustained, extraordinary contributions to scholarship on the patent system.
From 20 to 22 May 2026, the Munich Summer Institute (MSI) celebrated its 10th edition, held at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (MPI) in the heart of Munich. The MSI has now firmly established its reputation as one of the leading forums for research at the intersection of economics, management, law, and related disciplines, bringing together researchers from around the world for three days of intensive academic exchange. The MSI Ph.D. Workshop – a platform for emerging young researchers – was also held, for the fifth time.
Lu, TianMalicious Initiation of Intellectual Property Civil Litigation in China: The Emerging Jurisprudence of the Supreme People's Court Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property 17.1 (2027), forthcoming 01.01.2027.
Research Papers
Richter, HeikoGatekeepers Beyond the DMA (Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 26-07), 2026, 57 S.
Journal articles
Herrmann, LizaReferendarexamensklausur – Zivilrecht: Chatbots auf Shoppingtour Juristische Schulung - JuS Heft Probeexamen 66 (2026), 577 - 586 (gemeinsam mit Felix Janousek).
Rose, Michael; Hoffmann, Jörg; Harhoff, Dietmar (2026). Digitalization and Signatures: Evidence from a Survey Among German Citizens Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 20 (3), 653-668.
Discussion Papers
Stolz, Niklas; Probst, Benedict (2026). Mapping Global Value Capture in Carbon Crediting Projects.
Articles in Refereed Journals
Probst, Benedict; Egli, Florian (2026). Fixing Carbon Credits Requires a New Financing Model PNAS Nexus, 5 (5).
