Alumni

The Alumni Association, “Friends and Former Employees of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition”, aims to promote study and research in the Institute’s fields of emphasis.

The Executive Committee of the Alumni Association is composed of:

Dr. Anna Yotova Guggenberger (Vice Chairwoman)

Dr. Federica Togo (chairwoman), Dr. Anna Yotova Guggenberger (vice chairwoman), Dr. Simon Holzer (treasurer), William E. O’Brien (secretary)

Greeting from the Executive Committee

Dear Alumni and Friends of the MPI,

On behalf of the new Executive Committee, which has entrusted me with the office of chairwoman, I welcome you. It is an honour for me to fulfil this task with enthusiasm and dedication.

I was a scholarship holder of the Institute in 2007, obtained my Ph.D. degree in 2008 from the University of Florence and am currently a German and Italian lawyer and partner in the Munich office of an international law firm. Since 2016 I have been the vice-chairwoman of the association.

In this demanding task, I am supported by three very esteemed colleagues who are closely connected to the Institute:

Anna Yotova Guggenberger has taken over as vice-chairmanship. Anna completed in 2014 her Ph.D. degree at the University of Munich under the supervision of Prof. Josef Drexl. She is currently Legal Advisor at the European Patent Institute in Munich.

Furthermore, Simon Holzer will thankfully remain with us as treasurer of the association and experienced member of the Executive Committee. Simon is a partner in a renowned law firm in Zurich and joined the Institute from 2002 to 2003 with a research fellowship for his Ph.D.

Finally, we were able to recruit our new Executive Committee’s member William E. O'Brien from the United States as Secretary: William is attorney at law in Massachusetts and is an Adjunct Professor for Business Law at a local college in Massachusetts. He was a research assistant at the Institute from 1989 to 1990 and completed his comparative law thesis under Prof. Fikentscher.

As the new Executive Committee, we would like to strengthen the association's network, especially on an international level, as the 384 members of the MPI Alumni Association are present all over the world. Outside of this, we would like to expand the range of activities offered by the association to its members (e.g. through a more user-friendly website, more presence in social media and intensifying online contacts between members via various platforms). Of course, we will continue to support the Institute, especially with joint events.

It has been a tough year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has unfortunately led to a standstill in the activities of the association. When it will be possible again, we would like to continue organising social events and activities on a regional and international level. For the time being, however, we have to concentrate on online activities.

We invite you to contact us to make suggestions and proposals for the benefit of the Association's activities.

On behalf of the entire Executive Committee, I extend my warmest greetings to you,

Federica Togo

Contact Information and By-laws

Our contact address is:
Alumni Association of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
c/o Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
Alumni-Office
Marstallplatz 1
80539 München
Email: alumni(at)ip.mpg.de

MPI-Alumni-Group at LinkedIn

By-laws:
For further information see the Association By-laws (2016)

For our bank details see Membership.

Seminars

07/07/2023 | 5:00 p.m. | Online
Distinctiveness of Pharmaceutical Trademarks
Mariela Borgarello
Lawyer, lecturer on Intellectual Property Rights at FLACSO, Argentina and legal representative before Courts at the National Institute of Industrial Property, Argentina since 1996.

12/07/2022 | 06:00 p.m. | Online
Recent Intellectual Property Developments in the Ukraine
Yuriy Kapitsa, Doctor of Legal Sciences habil., J.S.D.,
Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Studies and Technology Transfer of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

04/07/2022 | 06:00 p.m. | Online
Competition Issues in Indian Digital Market: Global Issues, Local Enforcement
Dr. Vikas Kathuria
Associate Professor BML Munjal Law School

03/16/2022 | 06:00 p.m. | Online
Competition Law Practices in Labour Markets (No-Poach and Wage Fixing Agreements)
Assistant Prof. Dr. Cicek Ersoy
Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Management - Department of Law

12/07/2021 | 05:00 p.m. | Online
What Is It to Be the In-House Lawyer in an Artistic Foundation? The Legal Affairs at the Giacometti Foundation, Paris.
Emile Bouchet-Le Mappain, Ph.D.
Head of Legal Affairs, Fondation Giacometti, Paris

11/15/2021 | 05:00 p.m. | Online
Cooperation Will Win - Working in the BioNTech Legal and IP Team during Project Timespeed
Fabian Böttger, LL.M.
Director Legal & IP, reSano GmbH - a BioNTech company

Membership

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Alumni Association, you can access the application form here:
Application form (pdf)

Bank details:
Hypovereinsbank München
IBAN: DE48 7002 0270 0659 5215 80
BIC/SWIFT: HY VED EMM XXX

Direct debit authorization (SEPA):
You can have your membership fee transferred directly to the Alumni Association via direct debit by using the following SEPA authorization form. Please sign the form and return it either via e-mail or by post to the executive committee.
SEPA Direct debit authorization

Due to the Alumni Association’s charitable status, the membership fee in the amount of 35 euros is tax-deductible for anyone subject to German income tax (under Sec. 10b Income Tax Act). The tax authorities accept the bank transfer form as proof of payment provided that it contains the recipient’s name.

Donations of more than 50 euros require written confirmation by the executive committee. For this purpose, please send an e-mail with the payor’s name and address to matthias.bosch(at)bgsj.com